All the Right Reasons
by RainingLight1
Summary: "Would you believe me if I told you that I loved you all along?"
1. Chapter 1

U-Um...K-Konichuwa! I am kind of back. Hehehe...*rubs the back of her neck nervously* You guys are probably furious at my lateness on updating Ascension by Love. Gomenasai. I am furious at myself too. It's just I can't seem to concentrate on that one for some reason. And I strongly suspect the tons of new ideas that are flying around my little head contributed to the lateness of the update. So I decided to take a little brake.

If anyone is even reading this story, they will probably have lots question after this short chapter. I can't blame them. This chapter is very confusing but it will clear up as the story goes on. This won't be a long story. At least I am not planning it to be a long one. But you never know. My plans never work.

Enough of my babbling. Let's move on to the actual thing~

Declaimer:I only own the plot and my laptop.

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_Some memories last forever_

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_It was raining. Hard. As if the sky understood what he felt inside and presented his sorrow to the world in the form of pouring rain. People quickly scattered in order to save themselves from the sharp raindrops. But he didn't move an inch from his position where he had been standing for how many hours, he lost count. Head downward, his orange hair shielded his eyes from the world. A seven years old Kurosaki Ichigo stood eerily still in front of his mother's grave. _

_A small girl was running toward him. Her long auburn hair was drenched by the rain. Her tears and rain drops mixed together before hitting the already muddy cemetery with loud splash. She stopped behind him and hugged the taller boy. Tightly. _

"_I-Ichigo-kun-" started the girl in a meek voice._

"_Let go" came reply, cutting off what the girl was going to say, in process cutting the edge of her six year old heart. She let go hesitantly, trying not to loudly sob at the unexpected harshness from her friend. _

"_I-I am sorry-" she tried again._

_The orange-head turned around so fast that the scared girl fell back in surprise._

"_You are sorry? _You_ are _sorry_? There is no need to be sorry. Don't talk to me. Leave." He said bitterly._

_The girl saw his eyes for the first time today. His chocolate browns orbs were blood red but what scared her most was the coldness in those eyes she loved so much. More tears started pouring out of her eyes. Not that anyone could tell. It was raining very hard after all. To assure herself that the coldness was non-existent in those eyes and that she was only imagining the harshness in her friend's voice, she extended her hand to touch his. But he pulled his hand away as if she was fire. _

"_Don't touch me. I told you to leave. Why are you here? It's all your fault. I hate you. I HATE YOU!" _

_He finally snapped and yelled at the timid girl, his own facade falling. He cried his heart out as he watched the auburn haired girl's beautiful gray eyes widen, her hands clamped on her mouth as she ran as fast as her little body allowed her to. Ichigo watched the beginning of the end of his friendship with the innocent girl._

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"…I hate you. I HATE YOU!" Inoue Orihime's eyes snapped open and she sat up on her futon with a startle, her heart racing as if she just ran for miles. She unconsciously rubbed her eyes only to find them wet with salty tears. She quickly wiped them away.

'I would think I would forget about that day by now. It has been over ten years already. But I go through the same experience every night. Ichigo-kun, why do you hate me so much?' More tears rushed out of her eyes.

Orihime's eyes widened and she suddenly shouted, "GLOOM!"

She looked around until her eyes made contact with the small alarm clock. She woke up before the time her alarm clock was set for. Again.

"Come on, Orihime. It's no time to be sad. I have to make breakfast and make a bento too!" She wiped her large gray eyes on last time before dashing toward her bathroom with such energy that could be rarely seen in mornings.

An hour later…

"Ok! I packed the bento already, brushed my hair, all my home works are in my bag and got the book for Tatsuki-chan! All I have to do it talk to Onii-chan!" The auburn haired bubbly girl made sure she didn't forget anything.

"Onii-chan, I going now. Pray for me so I won't get picked on by the little blue-men again! And pray for Ichigo-kun too. He has been getting into lots of fights these days. Please don't let him get hurt, Kami-sama." Orihime said to the portrait of a handsome young man with black hair before letting herself out of her small apartment.

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Seventeen years old, Kurosaki Ichigo, heir of the Kurosaki Group Co. LTD rushed out of his luxurious apartment before getting into his brand new Mercedes. His driving represented his arrogance. Even though he was a high school student, he lived in a separate apartment, not in the mansion his father and his twin sisters lived in. Although his apartment probably cost more than ten regular apartments put together, it was nothing compared to mansion they called house.

One might wonder why exactly was the heir of such large business empire living by himself. Another proof of his stubbornness. He moved out of his house when he was fifteen, giving his father the conditions that until he is twenty one and is able to take over the business, he wanted to live in a different apartment, otherwise he will not take over the business as it clearly did not interest him at all. His goofy father of course agreed (after shedding buckets of tears on the large portrait of his deceased wife about how their son did not love him anymore…).

Ichigo entered the school on time thanks to his crazy driving and sat down on his chair lazily. Immediately he was swarmed in "Good mornings" by everyone. He responded with a "Tch."

As he started to drop his head on his desk with every intention of going to sleep, his eyes caught the sight of long auburn hair. He didn't need to look up to know who it belonged to. Only one person in the whole school had that shade of auburn hair and it was the girl who was terrified of him. Not that he could blame her. He was reminded of her tearful gray eyes, her soaking form and her long hair as she ran out of the cemetery every night. It was over ten years ago and he still couldn't forget how much he hurt her on that rainy day. And that only made him even madder at her and himself.

He pretended as if she did not exist and just put his head down like he originally intended to. But he didn't miss her timid voice as she greeted her tomboy of a best friend called Tatsuki.

He groaned and forced his eyes to close. It was only morning and she already pissed him off.

He wondered for a second how long he could keep lying to himself before crushing that thought mercilessly.

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So that's the end, guys! I hope you liked it. Sorry about the short chapter and the grammar mistakes I am sure I made.

Do you guys think Ichigo is out of character? Well...we haven't seen much yet but what do you guys think?

Oh! For those of you who read my other two crappy stories, do you think my writing (English+grammar) improved at all? Please be honest. I am trying to improve my English.

Lastly, please leave a review. I seriously can't stop smiling when I look at my reviews.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Ja ne!

-Raininglight~


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! I am back with a new chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this one. I had mixed feelings about it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

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_ The bright blue bird was trapped_

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'_What a beautiful garden!' That was the first thought that entered the five year old girl's mind. She looked around the huge garden. There were many different kinds of flowers that came in various different colors and shapes. There was a big pond filled with lily-pads in the middle of the garden too. She never saw anything like this before. She was amazed! She did her happy twirl dance to express her happiness. Then she remembered about Chappy-chan._

_She was chasing a snow white, soft looking bunny and that's how she ended up in this lavish garden. After remembering her original task, she looked behind bushes as an effort to find the bunny. As she kept looking, she came across a gigantic rose bush. It was filled with red roses. It smelled wonderful as well. Her bright gray eyes looked even brighter as she took in the sight. She had a strange urge to touch those soft petals and she did just that. She was careful not to pick any petals though. Then she jumped when she heard a loud voice._

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_ One fateful meeting and the bird is happy. _

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"_Oi! Who are you? What are you doing in our garden?"_

_The girl with the gray eyes quickly turned around to meet a boy with beautiful chocolate brown eyes, a cute scowl and head full of orange hair. She never saw anyone with hair like his before. His hair was a strange color but she instantly liked it. It reminded her of her own hair which was a strange color also. And she was often bullied for that reason._

"_Oi! I asked you two questions!" the boy reminded her impatiently. Already bossy at six years old. _

"_G-Gomen! I-I am Orihime. I didn't mean to come to your garden. I-I was just chasing Chappy-chan…g-gomenasai." Orihime said nervously, her head bowed, knees shaking._

"_Chappy-chan?" he questioned, his scowl deepening. _

"_Chappy-chan is the white bunny I found around my house!" The girl answered excitedly, her eyes shined brightly, forgetting about her initial nervousness for a moment. Only for a moment. Because it was back on full force the next second and her head was back to being bowed and knees shaking again. _

"_Oh…what a weird name for a rabbit. Anyways, I am Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo and this is our garden. " he answered coolly. He noticed the girl keep looking at the red rose bush._

"_You like those roses? Those are my mom's favorite." _

"_G-Gomen! I didn't mean to touch it! I-I will go now!" The girl's nervousness seemed to increase by the passing second. She quickly made to run away from the spot._

_But Ichigo was quicker and he caught her wrist before she could leave._

"_Oi! I am not going to hit you for touching a rose. Why are you running away? You like those, right?" He mentioned toward the roses. The girl nodded timidly. She watched quietly as Ichigo gingerly plucked a rose and handed it to her._

"_Here." _

_Already large gray eyes widened even more._

"_Arigatou! Ichigo-kun!" She happily accepted the flower._

_Ichigo on the other hand looked at her weirdly. She was the first girl who didn't call him a strawberry at first. She was certainly not like everyone else. She also had a different shade of hair. He actually liked the color. It reminded him of his mother's hair. _

"_Yeah. I-" He was cut off by his mother's angelic voice._

"_Ichigo, where are you?" She called._

"_Here mom!" The boy loudly answered._

_The next second, Orihime saw a very beautiful lady coming toward them. The most beautiful thing about her was her smile. _

"_Mom! This girl came to find her rabbit in our garden!" He excitedly told his mother._

"_Ichigo! She has a name! Did you ask her what it is?" Kurosaki Masaki slightly scolded her son._

"_Oh! Her name is Orihime."_

"_Hello, Orihime-chan. My name is Masaki, Ichigo's mother." She smiled at the smaller girl._

"_K-Konichuwa, Masaki-san." Orihime bowed respectfully._

"_What a polite girl!"_

_And that was how the friendship began._

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_She didn't realize, nothing lasts forever_

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Inoue Orihime quickly made her way to her classroom. Her alarm clock betrayed her this morning. Now she was going to be late. Orihime was a smart student, ranking number three in their class. It wouldn't matter much if she was late one time. She did her work and all the teachers liked her. Actually everyone liked her nice, kind, bubbly attitude. Some people liked her beauty way too much and that's when Tatsuki had to step in to set everything on the right direction again.

'Remember Orihime, go to sleep early tonight so this won't happen again tomorrow.' She scolded herself as she turned in a corner.

And that's when she crashed into a solid wall. Or so she thought it was a wall.

Her eyes closed, she was falling back ward but a hand caught onto her wrist preventing her fall.

"G-Gomen! I wasn't paying attention. Arigatou-" And that's when she looked up to see who saved her from the fall.

Her eyes widened at the blazing orange hair, the intense brown eyes and the scowl.

Kurosaki Ichigo was in front of her. The same one who told her that he hated her ten years ago for reasons she still couldn't figure out. The same Ichigo who only talked to her in order to insult her throughout her elementary, junior high and senior high school. The same Ichigo who was her best friend. The same Ichigo she fell in love with ever since she was six years old. Of course she was too young to understand at that time. But she understood what the feeling was as she grew up.

"Watch where you are going." He hissed venomously, looking down at the terrified girl.

"G-G-Gomenasai. I-I will pay attention from now on. Gomen!" She said quickly as she backed away from him. After giving her an irritated look, he continued to where he was going.

Orihime was very used to this by now. Ever since that day ten years ago, Ichigo had always been cold towards her. What else did she expect? He told her that he hated her. He only talked to her at times like this when she bumped into him or accidently spilled something on him. Being as clumsy as she was, that happened often even when she took extra measure to not bump into him or cause him any trouble.

Orihime's heart raced from this encounter. She leaned against the wall and placed a hand where her heart was located in an attempt to calm it down. After several minutes, she slowly made way to her classroom.

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_Maybe she wasn't meant to be happy_

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As soon as Ichigo was out of the auburn beauty's range, his facade fell. That girl is way too clumsy for her own good. The spot where her hand touched when he caught her to stop her fall was still tingling from her touch.

"Damn, woman." He hissed before banging his head on the wall.

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_Or maybe he was meant to endure it_

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"Oi! Orihime! Why are you looking so pale?" Tatsuki asked, noticing her best friend's odd behavior.

"N-Nothing! Tatsuki-chan." Orihime quickly answered waving her hands frantically in front of her.

"Orihime."

"K-Kurosaki-kun-" That's all she was able to say before the second strongest girl in Japan interrupted her.

"What did that asshole do to you?" She asked, flexing her muscle.

"I bumped into him and he saved me from the fall."

"Oh. He seems less moronic toward you these days. Wonder what happened to him…" The karate champion wondered out loud.

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After school, Orihime made her way toward the bakery where she worked part time. She received some help from her distant aunt but that was not enough to get her by after paying for the rent and all the other stuff. So she had to work. But she enjoyed her job. Her dream was to open a bakery of her own someday. She sighed out loud at how impossible it seemed at this moment.

The little bell on the door of the bakery rung, announcing the arrival of customers. Orihime stood behind the counter as she was approached by three guys. They all had piercing and all three of them looked very intimidating.

"W-Welcome! May I take your order, sir?" Orihime forced herself to act natural.

A creepy smile appeared on the three guy's faces and that made Orihime feel uneasy.

"You certainly may. When does this store close?" asked one of them who seemed to be the leader of the trio.

" Tonight we close at nine, sir." Orihime politely answered before taking their order, never noticing the hidden smirk that they shared.

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There you have it, my fellow Ichihime shippers!Please review, share your thoughts with me. Suggestions?

Please excuse my bad grammar and English and spelling mistakes. (I fail at soooooooo many things...sigh...)

Anyways,

Thank you sooooooo much for reviewing, following, adding this to your alert list etc, guys! I couldn't believe people actually reviewed for this story and based on what they said, they seemed to like it. What can I say? I am beyond surprised but incredibly happy at the same time!

And...

Magdalena88: I won't abandon Ascension By Love. Just taking a break. I can't believe you actually like it that much. Lol...And all questions about Ichigo's behavior will be understood over time. Thank you!

naleah: Thank you! That makes me very happy! And I won't abandon them!

Everyone else who reviewed, thanks a ton! I couldn't stop smiling as I was reading them.

So please review! It makes me really motivated. I keep thinking (with my fist raised up in the air) "I can't let my readers down! Definitely not!"

Hahaha...

Bye for now!

Love you all!

-RaininglLight~


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, Minna! I am back with a new chapter! Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Samurai Champloo...

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_In search of a new land…_

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_Little Orihime cowered behind the door, hands covering her ears, trying desperately to not cry out and cause the rabid man's attention to fall on her. Her eyes wide with fear. She just hoped Sora-nii would get home soon. She was very afraid of this man. This man who was her father. She cringed when she heard glass breaking and her parents loudly arguing. Any moment now. He will hit her mother. Her mother will curse him with colorful words the little girl did not know the meaning of but she knew they were not words of blessings. _

_After the loud crash and whimpered cry, Orihime unconsciously looked through the door. She saw her mother clutching her head as she tried to get off of the wall she was slammed into. _

"_FUCK YOU, BASTARD!" She screamed before storming off to the door. Not even sparing a glance at her terrified daughter. Not even caring that she was leaving a five year old girl with her monster of a husband who was severely drunk and in his ever present foul mood. _

"_Whore." The said husband hissed and then he turned around to see a little auburn head peeking out of the door. Tears poured freely out of her gray eyes that were wide in terror. _

"_WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU LITTLE RASCAL? DON'T FUCKING LOOK SO TERRIFIED WITH THE EYES OF YOUR WHORE MOTHER." He tightly grabbed her tiny arm before extending his other arm to slap the girl. Orihime quickly closed her eyes shut and cringed, expecting sharp pain any moment. But it never came._

_After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to see her older brother took a hold of the drunken man's hand, effectively stopping him from slapping the little girl._

_A seventeen year old Sora was much stronger than the drunken man and having enough sense to understand his disadvantage, the monster of a father left the room. Sora's eyes had fire in them. But then calmed down when his little sister hugged him, sobbing and crying. _

_He hugged her back. Emotions like understanding, sadness, grief, failure all swarmed in his eyes. _

"_Gomen, Orihime. I should have been here sooner. Just one more year. I promise, we will leave this place soon and they will never hurt us again." He said as he stroked the beautiful auburn hair._

"_Hai. Arigatou, Onii-chan!" Orihime said before flinching. The spot where her father grabbed her, a bruise already formed._

"_Let's go put some salve on it. It won't hurt so badly then, okay?" He said before carrying the smaller girl to look for some ointment to put on the bruise. _

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_Let's build a new house…_

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After saying good bye to her employers and co-workers, Orihime made way to her home. It was after nine at night. She never stayed out this late by herself before. Normally, she had work till seven and it didn't get that dark at seven. And if she did have to stay late, Tatsuki always accompanied her. But today, Tatsuki was sick so Orihime didn't bother telling her very strong best friend that she had work till nine, knowing very well that her best friend will try to walk her home despite her sickness.

It was dark. The clouds above obscured the moon. It will probably rain soon. The only light source were the flickering yellow streetlamps. She could see one or two pedestrian walking quickly, no doubt didn't want to stay out in the rain. She should have declined the offer to work over time. But she desperately needed the money. Her train of thoughts was broken when she spotted the three customers from earlier. A large grin plastered on the boss's face when they caught sight of Orihime. Orihime being the ever optimistic person thought nothing of it and told herself that they weren't waiting for her. She continued her way home. When she was passing by the trio, they loudly greeted her and came toward her.

"Hello, cutie-chan. Remember us from the bakery?" The boss asked and the other two winked.

"Uh-H-Hai." Orihime said as she continued walking. They walked with her too.

"Boss, looks like that black haired one is out of sight." One of the two sidekicks suddenly cut in. Orihime was confused. What were they talking about?

"Looks like we can drop the nice-guy act now. You, you are coming with me." The said boss harshly grabbed her hand and started to pull her away toward what looked like an alleyway.

"W-W-Wha-what are you talking about?! Please let go of my hand!" Orihime was naïve but not enough to follow these strangers to an alleyway.

"Not happenin', bitch." He dragged her with more force causing her to tumble forward while trying desperately to get away from these men.

Then they heard a loud screech of brakes behind them. A new Mercedes stopped right behind them. A tall figure got out of the car and walked toward them. First thing Orihime noticed was the blazing brown eyes. Kurosaki Ichigo stood in front of them and he looked majorly pissed.

"I heard that you tried to spray-paint on my car." That's all he said before punching the boss who was still holding Orihime's hand forcefully. But not for long. He flew backward from the impact of the punch, letting go of Orihime's hand.

"You," he looked at Orihime. "Don't think I came to save you. I have old business with these bastards. Go home." He said coldly. Orihime was still shocked and didn't move.

"I said go!" He hissed.

This time Orihime quickly moved away from where she stood and ran toward her house. Not daring to look back when she heard cries of agonies from the trio who assaulted her.

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_By neatly gathering hay…_

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Ichigo called the ambulance before leaving the three bastards with their broken bones. All three of them were unconscious from the beating. He angrily drove off to his apartment. Why did he stop and beat them up? Why the hell did he care if that clumsy idiot was raped? But he cared. His heart does it without him realizing. How many times had he beaten up some guy just because they dared to make a move on Orihime? The girl he said he hated?

"Shit. That was a lame-ass accusation. Should have thought about a more convincing one. Damn, woman!" He loudly groaned as he rubbed his temple out of major irritation.

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_To thatch the roof…_

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The trio woke up to find themselves in hospital beds, lying next to each other. The boss had his arm broken, couple of his ribs were shattered as well. Not to mention the broken nose and the blue-purplish bruises that covered his whole face. His two sidekicks were not in a much better condition.

"B-Boss, do you know what he was talking about, last night? About spray painting his car?" sidekick one groaned from his bed.

"No, you idiot. Why would I spray paint on someone's car? What am I? Some pansy? I think he beat us up thinking we were the ones who spray-painted this car. He got the wrong guy." The boss said, inwardly hoping to never cross path with the orange haired guy who beat the crap out of all three of them with his bare hands.

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_By neatly gathering hay…_

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"_Orihime? Oi! WHY ARE YOU LATE? You were supposed to meet me here ten minutes ago!" accused a six year old orange head. _

"_Gomen, I-Ichigo-kun. I don't think I can play today." Little Orihime said, her head bowed downward, hoping desperately that the brown-eyed boy would not notice her pained look._

"_Why?" he demanded as he grabbed her arm to show his irritation._

_But he soon understood because the girl flinched when he grabbed her arm. This time she couldn't hold her tears back. The boy rolled her sleeves up to see a large purplish bruise that seemed so out of place on the beautiful pale skin of the girl._

"_Orihime? What happened? And don't tell me that you fell again. You have already told me that at least five times the past couple months. Though you are the clumsiest person I ever met ." The boy said in a low voice but his eyes openly expressed his pain at the sight of the hurting girl._

"_O-Otou-san, h-he h-h-hit m-me. I-It was my birthday today." Looks like Sora wasn't at home today. Orihime didn't meet his eyes, finally she couldn't lie anymore. _

_Ichigo's eyes flashed with anger but he just hugged her, but made sure to extra careful to not hurt hand more. _

_They seemed to stand there for hours. Then Ichigo suddenly pulled away._

"_Happy Birthday, Orihime. Now we are the same age! Though I am seven five months older. Here you go." He plucked a red rose from the nearby rose bush and presented it to Orihime._

"_Arigatou!" Orihime happily accepted it and then gave Ichigo a kiss on his cheeks._

_Not only his cheeks but his whole face became bright red. _

"_L-Let's just go tell mom that today is your birthday." He quickly said, not meeting her eyes as he dragged her to his huge mansion. _

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_Neatly gathering hay…_

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"Tatsuki-chan! You _have_ to go!" Orihime was running behind her best friend who was walking very fast.

"Orihime, I told you, I am not going. It's for two months! I will probably see you dead when I come back!" The Karate champion argued.

"But it's tour all over Europe. That's a big offer!" Orihime pressed on.

Arisawa Tatsuki was invited for a free tour of whole Europe with other karate champions of Japan. The tour was for two whole months during their summer break. But Tatsuki didn't want to go because Orihime would be alone if she went. And right now, Orihime was trying to convince her best friend to go and she was determined to make her go no matter what.

"Hime, I am not leaving you alone for two whole months! Remember what happened that other night? What if Ichigo wasn't there? Although he did say that he wasn't saving you. Still, he did manage to get you away from those creeps which is even more suspicious because he said he hated you. He is acting suspicious!" Tatsuki said frantically.

"I think he was looking for those three guys to beat them up and he just happened to meet them there that night. And I promise, I will be very careful when you are gone. I will not stay out after dark. You have to go, Tatsuki-chan! For me at least. Please go, Tatsuki-chan." Orihime looked at her best friend with concern.

No one could deny Orihime anything when she did that puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine! I will go! But you have to promise to not get in trouble."

"Hai!" Orihime exclaimed happily.

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_To thatch the roof…_

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Ichigo's day was not going well. The girl he slept with last night, the girl whose name he didn't even know seemed to think they were dating after one night of sex. She wouldn't let him come out of that hotel room he spent his night in. She didn't know that Kurosaki Ichigo didn't date. He only used girls to satisfy his needs. No feelings were involved. One would think girls wouldn't fly around him like moths but Ichigo didn't have to worry about that. Being the heir to a multi-billionaire company and being handsome sure had its effects on girls. They all seemed to think they would become rich just by sleeping with him or something of that sort. But Ichigo didn't care about them. Sure some of them were great in bed but he always seemed to miss something during his time with those nameless girls. He himself wasn't aware of what he wanted but he sure the hell knew that he wanted something and those girls couldn't give it to him. He thought about this matter seriously a couple times but every single time, large gray eyes appeared in his mind's eyes and he forced himself to not think about it.

He couldn't deny it though. Orihime had become a beautiful girl over the years. Her eyes shined like stars, her long auburn hair looked shiny, soft and smooth and her creamy skin. Everything about her enticed him. She also had voluptuous body with a rather large chest, tiny waist which he could easily fit in his hands with her hips flaring out. But he really liked her long _long_ legs. She had the body of a goddess and a walking temptation that he- _**stop**_. He forcefully crushed his train of thoughts. This was exactly why he was determined to keep the auburn haired girl out of his head.

'You are supposed to hate her, dammit!'

But he knew he didn't hate her. The words he spoke all those years ago were an emotional seven year old boy's disparate attempt to lessen his own pain by blaming his situation on an innocent girl. He thought that would diminish his pain but it only increased his agony. More than he ever imagined.

'Damn, woman. Wouldn't leave me alone at night or day.'

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So there you have it! Please excuse the bad grammar, spelling mistake, yaddi-yadda. Please review.

Lol...

Did any of you notice the lyrics from Samurai Champloo?

Anyways,

THANK YOU GUYS SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!I love it when I get reviews! Also thanks guys who added this to your favorite list and alert list!

So as a thanks, I posted a longer chapter!

So you know what to do!

Special thanks to-

**Magdalena88, naleah, Soaring Demoness, Orihime14** (double thanks!),** fuzzbutt, BitterSweetSonata, Ermilus** (Oh My god!), **anonymous, zodius** (am I seeing things?) and **Mel**.

Thanks guys! Love you!

Ermilus: OMG! I can't believe you are reading my story! I am your big fan! Omg! OMG! Lol...I am too exited!

Zodius: THE zodius is reading my story! *feints* I am definitely seeing things. I am your biggest fan! I love your stories!

Anyways, thank you all for the lovely reviews! It made me very motivated and I am almost done with the next chapter!

Hope you guys enjoyed this. I have to say, I keep thinking my writing is getting worst if I don't pay attention.

Well... see you guys later!

Orihime: Please, review~ (puppy-dog eyes)

-RaingingLight~


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, my amazing readers! (It makes me sound like a writer! Now you know why I am grinning like an idiot!)...ahem...I am back with a new chapter and I must say, I really suck at writing emotional stuff. I hope you guys won't dislike it, notice my word choice. Readers, please make sure you look at the author's note at the end of this chapter. I know many people don't look at author's notes, myself included in many cases (or am I the only one?). But this one is important!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Lilium

Without further delay...

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_Os iusti meitabitur sapientiam_

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Summer had already started. It started too quickly much to Orihime's disliking. Tatsuki has been gone only for a few days and she already missed her so much. And she wouldn't see her best friend for almost two months. Then Orihime gasped out loud. She was supposed to be happy about her friend's achievement, not feel sad because she was lonely! But she was. Especially today.

Today was the day her older brother died.

In a plain white short sleeved dress, unintentionally looking more beautiful than usual, Orihime was carrying a large lily bouquet and a red rose bouquet. She was going to see her brother. In the cemetery.

It has been five years since Sora died. He died from a car accident. Kami always seemed to take away her happiness. Like when Sora died, when Masaki-san died and when Ichigo-kun said he hated her.

Orihime stopped in front of a grave whose tombstone read Inoue Sora. She placed the lilies on the grave. It was odd but Sora loved lilies.

"Onii-chan, how are you? Gomen. I couldn't come last month. It's just… Aunt Akane stopped sending me money and I have to work hard to pay the rents. G-Gomen! I didn't mean to complain! I like the job at the bakery so it's fine. Oh! Tatsuki-chan was offered a trip all around Europe and that's where she is now. She is amazing!"

The lonely sister didn't know how long she spent in front of her brother's grave talking about various issues, some important, some utter nonsense.

"I am going to see Masaki-san, Onii-chan. I will come again next month. Pray for me and for everyone else!" said the girl in an unusually cheerful voice. Even for her. But one could easily tell what she really felt during the departure if they bothered to reveal her eyes from underneath her auburn colored silky bangs.

Orihime passed rows and rows of graves, then she finally found the one she was looking for.

"Konichuwa-Masaki-san. It's been a while. GomeN-ne~. I couldn't come last month. Look, I brought your favorite flowers! " She gently laid the flowers on the grave.

Out of the blue, tears cascaded down her cheeks in uncontrollable waves. Orihime was trying very hard to wipe them but it was no use.

"M-M-Masaki-san, I-I-I m-miss you a-a lot. Gomen. Ichigo-kun said that incident was my fault. G-Gomenasai. I can't remember anything. I didn't want you to leave him. It_ is_ my fault. I bring bad luck. Just like how Okaa-san said." Orihime whispered the last sentence; raw pain piercing her heart like it had many _many_ times.

"You're wrong, Orihime-chan. You are nothing but blessing and my idiot son is taking too long to figure it out." Said an unusually serious voice. It sounded odd to hear a voice so serious when it always said goofy, funny things.

Orihime's eyes widened and her large gray eyes fell upon the Head of Kurosaki Group Co. LTD, Kurosaki Isshin, Ichigo's father.

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_Et lingua eius loquetur indicum_

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"K-Kurosaki-sama!"

Orihime quickly stood up and respectfully bowed before the older man. She visited Kurosaki Masaki's grave almost every month but she never ran into any one from the Kurosaki household before. That maybe because she came to the cemetery on day her brother passed away. She always saw flowers in the beautiful lady's and she knew someone probably visited her weekly if not daily.

"I-I will leave, now. Gomen." Orihime quickly started to walk away.

"Wait, Orihime-chan. There is no need for that. I would be happy if you accompany me in this lovely afternoon. Masaki would like it too." The elder Kurosaki said with a sad smile.

"A-A-Arigatou." Orihime said, bowing again.

"You don't need to be so formal, Orihime-chan. You know me ever since you were five, remember." He said to the polite girl.

"H-Hai!" Orihime said nervously.

She knew in whose presence she was in and her own position. She also knew that Kurosaki Isshin wasn't the snobbish type unlike other rich people. He was an easy-going man who thought of her as his own daughter. She felt more guilt pierce her heart to bits when she remembered that she might be the reason, Masaki-san is lying in a cold grave right now instead of spending time with her wonderful family. She bit her lips, head bowed downward, trying to contain her sobs.

"Orihime-chan, is there something you would like to ask me?" said Isshin after a couple moment of silence. Orihime knew that he was giving her time to pull herself together.

"K-Kurosaki-sama, long time ago, Kurosaki-san said it was my fault. What did I do? I can't remember. Would you please tell me?" Orihime said, not meeting the older man's eyes.

"Orihime-chan, you did nothing wrong. Ichigo was a seven year old boy at that time. Let's just say his understanding and reasoning were both immature. It is still immature, I think. Please don't try to remember, Orihime-chan. It's already bad enough experiencing it once."

At this point he seemed to talk more to himself than her. But Orihime's eyes widened at what he said. What did he mean by experiencing it once? What did she experience? Her head was filled with many questions. Just as she turned to ask more, the older man cut her off.

"Let's not talk about unpleasant things, Orihime-chan. So how is your school going?"

Sensing that he wanted to change the subject, Orihime didn't press him to answer. But that didn't mean she wasn't thinking about it.

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_Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem _

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_It was a rainy day. Just like any other days of the past week. It has been raining almost non-stop. Not that Orihime minded. She loved the rain. Only problem was that she didn't get to see Ichigo that much when it rained. Ichigo didn't like the rain much, she quickly figured out. That's why she was very surprised when he was knocking on her door, holding an umbrella. She was also scared for him because her parents weren't the type who would act decent with the boy who was obviously much higher status than them. Actually, her parent's didn't act nicely with anyone. Orihime didn't think they knew what being nice meant. And Sora was at work. She wouldn't be able to help Ichigo if they start hitting him too like they did with her every time Sora wasn't at home._

"_Ichigo-kun? What are you doing here? W-We should go outside. O-Otou-san is really angry today." Orihime said before walking out of the house._

"_Oh. Orihime, I told you. You should come live with me in our house." The orange-haired boy said with a frown. He never met Orihime's parents. But he really hated them. And the hatred continued to increase, every time he saw a new bruise on her._

"_It's ok, Ichigo-kun. Onii-chan said only one more year and we can live by ourselves when he is an adult. But thank you." The girl said before hugging the older boy._

_At this, his cheeks turned bright red. Clearing his throat, he said,_

"_L-Let's go! Mom is waiting for us over there!" He dragged her by the hand to his mother. _

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_Quoniam cum probates fuerit accipient coronam vitae_

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'I remember that much. But what happened after that? I don't remember. I was six at that time. Old enough to remember. Onii-chan never told me how exactly Masaki-san died. He said she was shot by a bad man and also that I was with her at that time. But I don't remember any of it.' Orihime thought. Hard.

She was staring at the dark ceiling of her room. She was waiting for sleep to consume her but it didn't come to her tonight. So she laid awake, thinking and trying to remember what happened that rainy night. She didn't know when she fell asleep but when she woke up her wish came true except that she instantly wished to forget about it again.

"_Good night, Orihime! See you tomorrow!" Ichigo enthusiastically said bye to Orihime for the night who waved back, saying bye._

"_Ichigo, stay here for a minute, I have to make sure Sora-san is home before Orihime goes back." Masaki said before walking to the door, her hand still holding the girl's tiny hand._

"_You are so nice, Masaki-san. I wish you were my mommy." Orihime said before hugging the older woman's legs._

"_Hai, hai! You will be able to call me mommy in future, Orihime-chan. I am sure Ichigo will more than agree with me." Masaki smiled at the younger girl, knowing full well that the little girl didn't understand what she meant by the confusion written on her pale face. _

_She turned the door knob to open and then they heard two round of distinct sound of gunshots. Both Orihime and Masaki were frozen with shock. The door opened from the inside. Two men emerged out of Orihime's house. One tall, lanky-looking, one shorter than the other._

"_Fucking bastard. Thought he could just take the money and not pay it back. I heard he had a daughter. Five or something like that. We are gonna take her and sell her to get the money back." Said one of them as they walked out of the house and that's when they saw Masaki and Orihime, standing in front of the door. Look of shock in both of their eyes. _

_Masaki was first to recover. She heard what the man said and quickly pushed the six year old girl behind her. The two men looked at each other. _

"_That's the daughter, Nnoitra-sama!" said the shorter man._

"_Oh. She would definitely bring our money back. Bitch, I will spare you if you give me the girl quietly and never speak of this again." He said to Masaki with an evil grin. _

"_No! I won't let yo-" _

_Another gunshot. This time Orihime screamed. Her voice didn't seem like her own. It was like the time stopped. Or maybe her heart. She vaguely remembered Kurosaki Masaki's body falling on her smaller one. Protecting her even now. She saw the world turning black. She lost consciousness. _

Orihime bolted up on her bed. Tears soaked her futon, her nightshirt. And they were still falling but Orihime didn't take notice of them. She remembered. But now she wished she didn't remember. It was like someone was stabbing her heart with a thousand spears, at the same time forcefully tearing out each organs of her stomach.

"Ichigo-kun was right. I killed her. It's my fault. Kami, why didn't I die that night?"

She laid on her cold floor, her eyes hollow, she barely noticed the dark cloudy sky that cried with her. Only louder and heavier.

Ichigo quickly sat up on his bed. He had that same nightmare he had almost every night. No. It was no nightmare. It was a memory from ten years ago. The one where he ran toward his mother and Orihime after hearing gunshots. Only to find his mother on top of Orihime, in a pool of blood. Her beautiful eyes had no life in them. Her wavy, brown hair was red with her own blood.

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_Kyrie, ignis divine eleison_

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Ichigo ran his hand through his hair. He used to cry after waking up from his sleep because of this memory when he was little. But he hadn't cried in about nine years. He couldn't cry. He wondered many times if he just became that cruel that nothing affected him or is it that he had no more tears left. He couldn't express his sadness by crying like everyone else could. Maybe that was his punishment from Kami, for saying such harsh things to Orihime. Even when he knew it wasn't her fault at all. She had it worse. She had seen his mother getting shot. She was there. She was probably next in line if he had not come screaming with all the neighbors quickly making their way to the spot after they heard the series of gunshots. And he knew he had no right to hate Orihime because she was not at fault. He hated himself ever since he said those words to her.

He was living in hell and that was Kami's punishment.

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_O quam sancta, quam serena, quam benigma, quam amoena_

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Orihime looked fanatically through the papers in the portfolio. At last she found what she was looking for. She was looking horrible with her gray eyes turned red from crying. Her hair was a mess and she didn't even change out of her nightwear. She was going through her medical records ever since she was little. She never had the need to look at them after Sora's death and he took care of all that before he died. But now she was looking for answers and to confirm her own suspicions.

She found the paper and her eyes widened when she read the contents. It was a medical report from when she was six years old. The date was about a week after the incident that killed both of her horrible parents and the lady she looked up to as her mother. This paper confirmed her suspicions.

She had localized amnesia when she was six years old. She read more and found out that it was a type of amnesia that leaves the patient with no memory of a traumatic event. A branch of dissociative amnesia.

Orihime muffled her sobs with her hand. Now everything made sense. She could never understand why Ichigo hated her. But now she remembered and everything was clear as daylight.

She knew why Ichigo-kun hated her and she deserved it more than anything else. She closed her eyes as if it could soothe her heart.

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_O castitas lilium_

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Orihime didn't know how she could pay for what she had caused. She decided to let Ichigo insult her every day when school starts. Normally, she avoided him like plague but she would create situations where he could insult her. Maybe that made him feel better. Maybe that gave him a sense of revenge. But she knew, she could do nothing that would be enough to pay for his mother's death that she was responsible for.

Orihime's thoughts were broken when someone snapped their fingers in her face.

Uh-oh, she spaced out in her job again. Normally, her old employer knew about her strange behaviors and smiled at her behavior. But ever since, his daughter took charge of the bakery, Orihime had not had a day of peace. Her new employer was not much older than her. Her name was Beniko and she was in second year of college.

What Orihime didn't know was that Beniko was extremely jealous of the auburn haired girl. She didn't like how everyone would fawn over the girl and how every male customer seemed to want her. Even her own boyfriend was infatuated with the clumsy idiot of a girl and she couldn't stand that. She was looking for some excuse that might convince her father to fire the girl. But her father seemed to like her a lot.

"Orihime-chan, we do not pay you to daydream. If you are going to daydream, then leave the store." She said harshly.

"G-Gomen! It won't happen again!" She quickly said before running off to mop the floor.

"Bitch." Beniko hissed.

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Dan dan dan~ You have successfully finished reading my disaster of a chapter! What did you guys think? How badly did I fail? Please review!

Talking about review...

You are probably wondering why I made such a fuss about reading this. Well...I CAN'T EXPRESS HOW HAPPY I AM FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS! So I decided to respond to each one of them. And I didn't want you guys to miss it!

**Soaring Demoness**: You are just like me! When I see authors mentioning me in their author's note, I get really exited! Though, I am not much of an author, I am glad you were happy. I am glad you liked the flashback. I was trying to make them sad and stuff but as I said earlier, I suck at emotional stuff. Thank you very much and I hope you liked this chapter.

**Ermilus**: No no no! Thank YOU for writing such great stories. And thank you very very much for reviewing! You inspire me!

**Jubee-chan**: Muhahahaha...that's my evil plan for making you review! Thank you! :)

**Anonymous**: Thank you! I am glad you like it! It makes me really happy! And here's your update.

**Mel**: HAHAHAHA...you fell for my evil plan to make you review as well! Lol...I am glad you liked it. And I was able to come up with the lame excuse because I AM LAME! OH YEAH! ...ahem... Sorry about that. I got too exited again...I have a great plan for this two months! But I am not telling! And here's your update!

**BittersweetSonata**: I am glad this made you happy!:) Me too! I love Ichihime! It makes me very happy to know that you like this story that much! :)

**naleah**: Yay! Thank you! Thanks for always reviewing! :)

**zodious**: First of all, I JUST LOVE LONG REVIEWS! I am glad you liked the excuse. Only a lame mind could come up with a lame excuse like that. MUAHAHAHA! Thank you so much! And I absolutely love your story! I am glad we are both happy! Thank you for inspiring me! I am so happy that my hands were twitching till I updated! So I had to! I hope you liked this chapter!

**Misha**: Thank you! Here is the update! Hope you liked it!

I apologize if I left anyone out...Gomen...

And thank you all who followed this story and favored it! Love you!

This time...

**For girls:**

Ichigo, with his suit unbuttoned, a rose hanging from his mouth, piercing eyes and a sexy expression (the one from Orihime's fantasy) says: You'll review, won't you?

**For guys** (if there are any):

Ichigo: You guys, if you don't review, I will think you are punk who tried to spray paint my car. So...

And I think that's enough of my madness for today. Although I am crazy everyday...Anyways, thank you guys!

See you later!

-RaingingLight~


	5. Chapter 5

Konichuwa~ I am back and that means a new chapter! Please take a look at the author's note at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach.

Now, on with the story!

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_It is the duty_

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Orihime was very anxious today. And for good reasons. She is going to get paid today and she couldn't wait for the end of the day. She was counting seconds. She will finally put a stop to her humiliation. Orihime hadn't been able to make rent for the last month. She was supposed to pay last week but she had no money. So her date was extended to today. She had three more hours and then she would be able to pay rent and not get kicked out for not paying.

Today was another rainy day. And they didn't have many customers.

There was only four staff working as well excluding Beniko-san. Beniko was getting ready to leave the store because her boyfriend came to pick her up. Another reason for Orihime's anxiety. Even since he came to the bakery couple week ago, Beniko's boyfriend always seemed to be looking at her with a creepy expression in his face and that made Orihime really nervous. Right now Orihime wanted more than anything for Beniko to get ready quickly so she could leave with her boyfriend whose name Orihime didn't even know. But luck was not on her side today. Or ever.

She was behind the register and other staff members were busy in the kitchen. Beniko's boyfriend was the only one in the bakery since today was a slow day. Orihime grew even more nervous when he made a hand gesture for her to come to him. She slowly walked to him, not wanting to make her owner angry by not assisting her boyfriend out of fear. He stood really close to her when she approached, making the girl even more uncomfortable.

"Why do you always look so nervous, Orihime-chan?" he whispered in her ear making her flinch back but he caught her wrist.

"I-I…I-am…" Orihime was trying to quickly give him a satisfactory answer so she could get away from him.

"And it fucking _turns me on_." He said, standing even closer.

This time Orihime forcefully snatched her hand back. The guy was surprised so he let go. But when she turned away to leave, he caught her hands again. He seemed to be mad at her rejection and forcefully grabbed the back of her head to draw her in a kiss. Orihime stared at him in horror. She couldn't yell because then Beniko would sure know about this and fire her. But she couldn't accept being kissed against her will as well and tears poured out of her eyes. When she lost all hopes of getting away from him, the doorbell of the bakery rang and the door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to always witness her most vulnerable moments.

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_Of every single one of us_

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Ichigo was thinking about going to visit the old man and his two sisters today. And that's why he found himself driving to the small bakery. He knew Yuzu loved their pastries and like a good brother he never thought he was, he went to buy her favorite stuff. He never expected to find that clumsy idiot there though. He never knew she worked there. Then he witnessed the asshole harass her and trying to forcefully kiss her. Ichigo's blood boiled for some unknown reason. Even before he could comprehend his actions, he kicked the bakery door open with a loud bang.

In a matter of two seconds, he already punched the asshole right in the face, sent him crashing into the chairs of the bakery.

By another two seconds, other people ran out of the kitchen. Three of them were wearing the store uniform and one of them seemed to be in the middle of baking a cake out of her face with makeup.

"DAICHI!" She screamed before running to the fallen asshole.

"Babe, that bastard punched me!" Daichi knew he was no match for the orange-haired punk, so he took this approach.

"HOW DARE YOU PUNCH MY BOYFRIEND!" The girl now screamed at Ichigo.

"Tell your boyfriend to keep his hands to himself then." Ichigo said flatly.

All this time, Orihime's face was contorted with pain and horror. She didn't say a word.

Beniko turned a firey gaze at her boyfriend then Orihime, asking for an explanation. Quickly.

"Babe, that vixen over there," pointing at Orihime, "she was trying to seduce me. Then this guy punched me." He said with a fake pained face.

"DON'T LIE, ASSHOLE." Ichigo quickly punched the guy again and this time he looked unconscious. Ichigo was trying to punch him again but Orihime hugged him from the back. She couldn't stand if Ichigo got in trouble for her sake even though she didn't understand why he came to save her.

"Don't, Kurosaki-san. _Please_."

That seemed to stop Ichigo. But _fuck_! It looked like he came to save her. (Which is exactly what happened). But he couldn't give her a reason to believe that. He quickly put on his indifferent face and walked out of the bakery.

Now all hell broke loose on Orihime.

"YOU! YOU TRIED TO SEDUCE _MY_ BOYFRIEND, YOU SLUT!" Beniko yelled.

Deep down, she knew that Orihime was innocent in this matter and she knew her boyfriend enough to understand that he tried to force Orihime. But her pride stopped her from admitting this.

"OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE FIRED! MAKE SURE YOU NEVER SHOW US YOUR UGLY FACE AGAIN." She yelled.

"But! Beniko-san, Orihime-chan isn't-" One of the three staff member was cut off by Beniko.

"You can join her if you want." She spat before storming off.

Orihime couldn't take it anymore. She ran out of the store, crying. Why did this always happen to her? She knew. She was being punished for causing the death of a mother. Her tears blinded her vision, but she continued to run. And to cry her sadness away.

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_To desire a higher life_

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Ichigo was outraged at himself. 'Why the hell did I do that? I don't care about her.' Ichigo didn't understand himself. He also didn't understand how one person could attract this much trouble. Looks like he wouldn't be visiting his family today. He was way too pissed.

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_And what lies at the root of such life_

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Orihime wanted to die. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She was kicked out of the apartment because she couldn't pay the rent. She couldn't even go to Tatsuki since the girl was in Europe right now. And that's why Orihime found herself standing against the wall of an alleyway, clutching her brother's portrait in a worn out frame, a small luggage at her feet. Her head bowed downward, she didn't know what to do now. She couldn't go to a hotel because she had no money. She had no one to turn to. And it was already night. She was terrified because creepy looking people were walking around, staring at her. She wanted to die.

She looked up when she heard,

"How much? I will give you five hundred for the night. What? Is that not enough? Then take an extra hundred dollar."

A man dressed in business suit, possibly in his forties, was speaking to her. She knew he was speaking to her because he was right in front of her and she had no idea what he was talking about.

"W-What are you talking about, sir?" she asked nervously.

"Don't play coy with me. Come on-" he extended his greasy hand toward her and then-

He was punched in the face.

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_Is a vigilant mind_

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Ichigo cursed inwardly, as he stepped out of his brand new Mercedes, unable to stop his own two feet, his insides burning with rage. He must have pissed Kami off more than he thought he did. He was driving to his apartment when he saw that pitiful idiot standing with her back to a wall in some dark alleyway with an old pervert talking to her. Before his brain could register what the hell he was doing, he already shifted the gear to park and opening the door. His suspicions were right. The old pervert had thought the girl was a prostitute and was trying to convince her. But with one look, Ichigo knew that the naïve auburn haired girl had no idea what was going on.

Looks like these days, he had no control over his own body because as soon as he got to them, he already punched the old pervert right in the face, possible breaking his nose for they heard a loud crack.

"_Fuck off_." He hissed and saw the old pervert running away as if he had seen a hellhound.

"BAKA! What the hell do you think you are doing?" He said venomously to the girl then realizing that she was clutching to some type of frame and on her feet lay a small luggage bag.

Orihime was once again shocked at his sudden arrival. Before she could say anything or be scared, he already punched the old man in the face for reason she did not know and now asking her what she thought was a trick question.

"Well…" he said impatiently when she didn't answer right away.

A stab right at her heart when she remembered this trait from when they were children, when they were friends, when she didn't cause his mother's death, when he didn't hate her.

"I-I l-l-lost m-m-my", She cleared her throat then continued; "I lost my job today." She said in a whisper barely hearable.

But he heard it. She didn't need to elaborate why she was standing in a dark alleyway at night. Just that piece of information made everything clear to him. He knew she wasn't from a wealthy family. He knew her brother had died when she was twelve. He didn't know how she survived this long. But he quickly figured out that because she lost her job today, she couldn't pay the rent and had no place to stay.

A sharp guilt hit him across the face. He was the reason why she lost her job. It was his fault though he was only trying to keep her from being molested.

'No, dammit. I was _not_ trying to help her.'

He harshly reminded himself.

"What happened to Arisawa?" he asked, looking at her right in the eye.

He still didn't understand why he cared.

"T-Tatsuki-chan is in a tour." She quietly answered, not understanding his reasons for this inquiry or why he didn't insult her yet.

"Let's go." He said before picking up her luggage.

Her eyes widened. What's going on?

"W-Where?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"You look like a prostitute waiting for your customer. Unless you are doing just that, come to my apartment with me." He said flatly as if answering what two and two equaled to.

He was cruel. Very cruel.

Orihime's eyes became inhumanly large at what the hot tempered male said. For two reasons. She never thought that she looked like a prostitute with her standing against the alleyway wall. The old man must have thought that. She felt disgusted. The second reason was that the owner of the intense chocolate brown eyes wanted to take her to his apartment. She could bear with him being mean to her. She could bear with him insulting her all the time. But she couldn't bear it if he thought she was some kind of…of… she couldn't even say it.

Seeing her eyes the size of tennis ball, Ichigo quickly re-thought what he said. Then he cursed himself for what seemed like the fiftieth time since he got out his car.

"I meant, I will give you job. I need a maid. Come with me if you don't want to end up being raped." He said with a tone that appeared to be devoid of any sincerity. He didn't even wait for her to answer and just walked off to his car with her luggage.

In a matter of three seconds, a thousand thoughts raced through Orihime's mind. She didn't have place to sleep. She had nothing to eat and she had been ignoring her growling stomach for quite some time now. She needed a job. And she still needed to make herself pay for causing the death of Ichigo's mother. She was being offered an honest living by the man who said he hated her. He asked her to live in his apartment and he was walking away with her luggage.

Not having any other option, she followed him meekly until he heard him growl at her that unless she walked faster, he would drive away without her. And that caused her to run to the car.

She knew she just walked into her own doom. But she decided to accept it for this could be the way to atone her sins.

Orihime had seen his new Mercedes a couple times but she was never within twenty feet of it. She was simply too scared to have a better look. What if he yelled at her for coming close to his brand new car? Or even worse, what if she tripped and cause damage to his car? She would never be able to pay it off. She barely had enough to sustain her own life.

She made to sit in the back seat but then was forced to come to the passenger's seat in the front after his command. "_You'll sit on the books_." She could've sworn that she only saw her luggage and no trace of books in the back seat.

She quickly fastened her seatbelt. When he started to drive she couldn't contain the terror-filled scream because he was driving in a speed that was clearly not meant for these streets, maybe for car racing contests.

She thought she heard a chuckle but when she looked at the orange-head's face any trace of emotion was wiped off. She knew he rarely smiled since that incident. To think he would chuckle with her sitting next to him, she must have lost part of her brain.

Ichigo couldn't stop the chuckle at her scream. He cursed inwardly and quickly put the mask of indifference. He knew he was digging his own grave by bringing this woman to his apartment where he would see her all the time. And she barely left him alone when he only saw her at school. He was doomed. And this time brought it upon himself.

He did drive slowly after her scream though it was still over the speed limit. But Orihime couldn't be more grateful. Orihime was terrified of fast-moving objects. Especially when she was in it.

The ride was quiet. Orihime, no doubt, thinking of her fate once she arrives at the famous Kurosaki's apartment. Ichigo, on the other hand, thought which room he would let her have. What would he make her do. He did not over think that one thought purposely, knowing it would do him no good.

Orihime had never been to this part of Karakura town before. It was like a new world, one that contained many more lights than the dim, poor area she lived in. She couldn't help but admire the beauty of the night, for a moment forgetting who she was with and her shameful predicament.

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_And a soul of majestic beauty_

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You have reached the end of the chapter! Anyways, please excuse the bad grammar etc, the usual.

Please review, share your thoughts...did you like this chapter?

Now, couple days ago, I have received a review saying,

"The plot reminds me of someone else's fic, the Ichigo hating Orihime because masaki saved her part." exact words.

First of all, thank you "Guest" for letting me know this. I think the story which you are talking about is either "Beauty and the Cat" by skysamuraigirl or "Like a sunflower" by alice hattercandy. Let me assure you and all my other readers, the context of the situation is totally different my story. I am sure you all have read those two wonderful stories and know what I am talking about. The situation is different. I don't believe in plagiarism for it is a type of cheating. I am sure you weren't trying to accuse me of such thing but it hurt to know that some readers may have thought in such way. Especially when, I have done some serious thinking even before starting this story. Anyways, thank you for letting me know.

Now that all the gloomy stuff are out of the way,

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS. I can't believe how many reviews I got for the last chapter and I was really worried about that chapter too. I have wonderful readers. *Tears of joy* I can't believe I, the bad grammar, bad English author, got this much review. Thank you so much!

Also thank you all who followed and favored this story!

Now,

**littlemadcat**: Thank you! And your English does NOT suck! I am sure you know how bad mine is. But it's ok. English isn't our main language. We can't be expected to be perfect! But I don't see anything wrong with yours!

**IchIHimENALU4eva**: *bows back* You are most welcome! And thank you! It's no problem. I am glad you read the other chapter too. I hoe you liked this chapter. Thank you!

**Sorakaii**: Thank you! And here is your update. Hope you liked it.

**BittersweetSonata**: Aww...thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it. I cry very easily too. Thank you for always reviewing!:)

**Magdalena88**: Yup! I feel sorry for them, even though I am the one writing this. I am cruel! MUUAHAHAHA...Lol. Thank you so much for reviewing! And don't worry about not reviewing the other chapter! I am just happy that you read it!

**Soaring Demoness**: YAY! TWINS! And you deserve the honor, I don't know if I can call it an honor, coming from me. I am glad you understand. I do suck at emotional parts because, I am not a good author, I never went through hardship like this and I don't know how people act when they are in love with each other, since I am not in love with anyone. Aww...thank you. You are too kind. *cries from happiness* I hope you like this chapter.

**KHLostEmpress**: I know right! Ichigo can be a dummy. *MUAHAHAHA I am the mastermind...MUAHAHAHAA* Lol... thank you for the review.

**Ermilus**: Lol...Ichigo is a baka! Everything will be solved in time. And I agree about the Beniko part. Thank you for reviewing! :)

**naleah**: Aww...thank you! And I love Ichihime too. Thank you for the review!

**zodious**: Another long review! Thank you so much! Lol...I hope you liked this chapter. MUHAHAHAHA...I knew what kind of effect the sexy Ichigo had on people. I suffer from it myself! Thank you for always reviewing and inspiring! And we definitely need more Ichihime!

**anonymous**: You are most welcome! And yup! Ichigo- the stalker! I hope you liked this chapter as well.

**Misha**: Thank you for always reviewing! How did you like the twist of this chapter?

**Chuain**:Lol...Thanks for the review. I understand that Ichigo's is definitely out of character but I needed to make it like that to fit the story. I will try to bring him back to character in future chapters. I hope you will stay with this story!

**Jubee-chan**:I totally agree! Lol...thank you for the review!And here is your update!

**Guest: **Thank you for letting me know!

**Mel**:Thank you!I know right! I am so cruel! And I can assure you that will happen in future. Here is your update! Hope you liked it!

**anonymous: **You are welcome! Thank you for the review. I hope this chapter satisfied you!

**Anonymous**: Lol...I have the same reaction when I am mentioned in feedbacks! Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter. :)

**Diana Cruz**: Thank you for reviewing! And I hope you liked this one!

I am sorry if I left anyone out. Gomennasai...

Thank you all, please review!

See you next chapter!

-RainingLight~


	6. Chapter 6

Hello Minna-san. Here is the new chapter. I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Treachery

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_I can tell that you've never been true to me_

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She saw rows of expensive restaurants (she knew they were expensive because she had never been to them and she could see classy decorations through the transparent glass). Within twenty minutes or so, Ichigo pulled up in front of a huge building. Orihime tentatively got out of the car to get her luggage but Ichigo marched up with his longer legs and took the luggage out of the bag seat without saying anything. Orihime sighed then followed him inside the building, clutching her brother's portrait tightly in the small hands. As soon as she stepped inside the building, she wished she had four more eyes. It was a beautiful place, something she saw in tv. She was again reminded just how rich the Kurosaki family was. But as soon as her eyes landed at the huge portrait, her heart stopped.

It was a portrait of Kurosaki Masaki, her face radiant with a bright smile.

Noticing that Orihime stopped moving behind him, he turned around to see her large eyes glued to his mother's portrait. Old pain stung his heart and he was reminded of their childhood days.

"Yeah, we own this apartment complex. Now, let's go. I am getting tired of carrying your luggage." He said bringing her back to the world.

Orihime wasn't surprised when he said they owned this apartment complex since she already guessed that much, but she was surprised at the emotions when he said that.

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_I can smell that you're acting so fearfully_

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After greeting back to the lady behind the front desk who looked very surprised to see a girl with him, Ichigo led the nervous girl to large elevator. The inside was so bright and decorated that Orihime didn't even notice when they arrived at the twelfth floor. That must be where Ichigo lived. Orihime stepped out of the elevator; her heart suddenly started drumming loudly. Ichigo already opened the door somehow and was waiting for her impatiently.

"Well…get in here already." He held the door open for her.

As soon as Orihime stepped inside Ichigo's apartment, her head started spinning. Ichigo's living room was so messy that Orihime wondered how anyone could live here. And how anyone could do this to such luxurious place.

"See why I need a maid," Ichigo commented at her surprised face, not even a trace of shame in his eyes for this mess. "Follow me."

He led her to a large room with all the necessary furniture. Some of his clothes were scattered around the room but that was the only mess.

"This apartment has four bedrooms. You can have this one and I sleep in the one next to it. Clean. Eat. Do whatever. Don't annoy me." He left before she could even thank him.

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_I can hear what you're hoping I want to hear_

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She was just too hungry at this moment. So she quietly made her way around the apartment, looking for the kitchen. She finally found it after walking into two bathrooms. It didn't take her long to figure out that Ichigo wasn't much of a cook. She was surprised to find an almost empty refrigerator and some canned foods and definitely no wasabi or red bean paste. But at the moment, she was too hungry and quickly made some pasta.

She didn't know if she should ask Ichigo. He did tell her to not annoy him. Would it be an annoyance if she called him to eat? Did he already eat dinner? Orihime didn't know what to do.

At last, she decided to just tell him to eat. If he thought that was an annoyance then she would just accept his insults. Also, she was supposed to be atoning her sins.

Orihime found her way in front of Ichigo's bedroom. The door was not locked but slightly closed. So she knocked lightly. Maybe he fell asleep? But then he talked.

"Come inside."

Orihime opened the door as quietly as she could and stepped inside. The light was turned off so she couldn't see anything. Not wanting to break things on the first day of her maid-hood, she stood still. Then the light suddenly turned on.

Ichigo was lying on his bed, eyes closed, but she knew he wasn't asleep.

"K-Kurosaki-san?"

"What is it?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes.

"I…um…I-I made d-dinner…" she said nervously.

This time his eyes snapped open. He looked at her wearily.

"G-Gomen…" Orihime didn't think he was okay with her going through his kitchen.

But Ichigo was surprised for a different reason.

He hadn't eaten home cooked food in the last two months. He only ate it when he went to visit his family.

"Don't say sorry for everything. It's annoying. Let's go." He said, already standing up and walking toward the kitchen.

Orihime was very surprised. But when she turned to follow him, he suddenly stopped walking. Then he turned around, making Orihime take a step back, but his hand shot out, grabbing hers and effectively made her stop moving. Their faces were mere inches apart. Automatically, Orihime's heart started beating so fast and loudly that she was afraid Ichigo would hear it. Her-childhood-friend-now-turned-employer looked down at her with his ever intense chocolate-brown eyes that she loved so much and that was enough reason to cause her to feint. But thankfully she didn't.

"I am your master, maid-chan." He smiled a wide smile and that scared Orihime more than anything she went through in this hectic day.

Her legs almost gave out when she realized that he wanted her to call him 'master'. He truly hated her. Reminding her of her shameful predicament every second. But then again, she was atoning her sins. Or so she thought.

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_I can feel the alarm bells are ringing in me_

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Ichigo knew he was playing with fire or something worse than that. When he just saw her in school, he was able to step on any thought that concerned his-classmate-now-maid and crush it mercilessly. But now that she was living with him, just next door, he couldn't forget about her presence for even a second, literally. He was not used to sharing his rather large apartment with anyone, let alone a beautiful woman that he would never admit he was attracted to.

Even though this thought irritated him, but he couldn't help but notice that he was staying at home more often which was very uncharacteristic of him. Though most of the time, he stayed inside the four walls of his bedroom, trying to keep the odd girl out of his head. But just because he couldn't see her through the solid walls, didn't mean he stopped thinking about her.

"Damn, woman. What do you think you are doing to me?" he huffed to himself.

He really was pathetic, wasn't he?

Then came-

"Master…" from outside of his room.

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_I can touch but I know you don't feel a thing_

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Another annoyance he brought upon himself. Why the hell was she calling him that? When he made his little comment on that first night of this odd settlement, he simply said that because he needed to say something or he would've kissed her right there. But she misunderstood and started calling him 'master'. Normally, he had no problem with that. After all, he was the heir to a very large company and he was used to have the authority and was used to being addressed in such manner.

But when that absent-minded girl started calling him that, it had been utter torture. Whenever she called him that, he had this sudden sense of possessiveness that even he couldn't explain. It was as if she belonged to him to do whatever he pleased with her. And that thought annoyed him to no end because he really liked how that sounded.

"M-Master?" she called again hesitantly when her 'master' didn't answer her.

Sigh. "Come inside. What is it?"

"I-I was wondering if I could go to school and change my address. Since we will be seniors next year, we will get many mails from school and I don't want to miss them-"

"Already done." He cut in.

"Oh-w-what?"

Did she really hear what she thought she did? Her coldhearted 'master' was really considerate enough to do that even before she asked?

"I said, I already took care of it."

Orihime's eyes widened. He wasn't really insulting her since she got here. He didn't really get mad at her either. And now he was being considerate.

'What if he didn't hate me anymore? **NO**. Don't go there, Orihime. It's just wishful thinking and I deserve that hate. Don't I?'

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_I can pray but I know you commit a sin_

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After her 'master' left his apartment, Orihime decided to clean his room. She was finished cleaning the rest of the apartment and it now looked like a place where people could live. Only place left was her 'master's' room. Since he didn't ban her entrance to his room, she figured he wouldn't mind if she entered to clean. She made the bed and went to dust the large wardrobe.

And that's when she saw it.

At first she couldn't put a finger on it but there was a small box on the top of the wardrobe and it looked oddly familiar for some reason. The box resembled a book.

As if in a trance, she brought the small box down from the wardrobe top but was debating if she should open it or not. She knew her 'master' will definitely get mad at her for going through his private possessions but it was as if the box called her.

She opened the box and it brought back memories. Memories of peaceful days, of friendship, of love.

Inside the little box, she found an origami heart and some paper water lilies.

"_Ichigo-kun! Ichigo-kun, look what Masaki-san taught me to do!" The little six year old girl ran behind a slightly older orange-head, her long, bright hair reflecting sunshine, danced along with her._

_Hearing her voice, the boy turned around and saw a handful of origami water lilies, but what really caught his attention was a little red colored paper heart, peeking out from the bottom of the water lilies. They seemed to overflow from her tiny hands._

"_They are nice." He said awkwardly, silently wishing he had said something cooler._

"_Arigatou~ they are for you!" The girl flashed him a bright smile that could put his hair color to shame, gently placing the contents in her hand to his._

_He quickly put his hands together and accepted her gift carefully, making sure not to drop any of them._

"_Arigatou! I will always keep them with me." He said. Hearing his, the girl blushed bright red and saw that the boy's pale cheeks turned red as well._

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_I can sense now it's all become clear to see_

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"_Ano~ Ichigo-kun, what is this book? It doesn't look like a real book…" Couple days later the little girl asked, pointing at a little box that resembled a book._

"_That's because it isn't. Look." The boy said before opening the little box._

_The girl smiled a sunshine smile when she took a look at the contents of the box._

"_You kept my origami!" She exclaimed happily._

"_Didn't I tell you? I will always keep them with me." _

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_You're no good, and you mean no good, treacherously_

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Memories rushed back to her consciousness. Orihime stood still, the opened box in her small hands. She couldn't believe he had something like this. Something so simple that she had given him when they were little. The little red heart was on top of the water lilies. They looked very out of place in his luxurious room. Orihime gently closed the box and placed it in its previous position. Half of her heart was throbbing with happiness, while the other half was aching with the sadness of lost friendship, lost love.

What an odd contradiction.

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MUHAHAHAHAHA~

Now, my usual rant.

Gomen everyone. This week had been a horrible one for me. I was very sick with cold, fever and headache in these beautiful summer days. Sigh. That's why I couldn't type anything. Gomennasai~

Please excuse my grammar, bad English etc etc.

Now, thank you everyone! I have gotten a lot of reviews of the last chapter as well. My readers are the best! Also, thank you all who followed and favored this story. I love you guys.

Special thanks to~

**Magdalena88, littlemadacat, Diana Cruz, cherry mist, zodious, Ermilus, Guest, Jubee-chan, Misha, Me, Soaring Demoness, naleah, BittersweetSonata, KHLostEmpress,uzamaki898,** **Anonymous** and last but not least, **Chuain. **(Gomen, If I miss someone.)

**You guys are the best! **Due to my limited time right now, I can't respond to each one of the reviews. I thought you guys would like it better if I posted the chapter as quickly as I could. But I read all of the reviews with an extremely wide smile. Many of the reviews made me laugh. I am glad I have such great readers! Thank you guys.

Please review! I will try to post the next chapter soon.

Love you~

-RainingLight~


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! Funny thing happened tonight or should I say this morning. I just couldn't fall asleep because I felt like an ungrateful person who doesn't care about other people's kindness. I really don't want to see myself as one. So the guilt of not updating soon really struck my heart and sleep fled to who knows where. I just had to update or I can't go to sleep so here it is. I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Clannad (a true masterpiece).

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_Far away, far away, the sea of rice plants waver_

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Life in Kurosaki Ichigo's apartment was not at all what she thought it would be like. He wasn't being cruel to her. That made Orihime happy but also worried because her 'master' was always cruel to her before. As she sat pondering about various thoughts, she heard the apartment door open.

He came home.

Before Orihime could make her way to the living room to greet him, he called.

"Orihime…Oi! Where are you?" No trace of coldness in his voice.

"I am here, M-Master." She answered meekly.

Ichigo shook his head and loudly sighed. It's about time he put an end to her calling him master.

"Orihime, when did I ever tell you to call me master?" he asked, forcefully made his voice rough.

"U-Umm…that time-" she blushed heavily remembering how close he was that time.

"I never said you had to call me master. Don't call me that." He said flatly, eyes closed.

"H-hai. But what should I call you? Kurosaki-sama?" Orihime questioned, a finger on her chin.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"K-Kurosaki-san?"

"No."

"Kurosaki-kun?"

Sigh. "For now. And here." He pushed a package to her. Orihime didn't even notice it until now.

She daintily opened it.

A wooden picture frame.

"I noticed your brother's picture frame was old, so…" he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Orihime could hardly believe it. When had he seen that? And that sheer thoughtfulness behind this action surprised her. He didn't have to do something like this for her. But he did. His actions over the past two weeks repeatedly surprised her and brought hope to her that he might not have hated her. But she forcefully ignored that thought.

But does someone do things like this for someone they hate?

"Yeah, I know it's very simple-" His eyes never turned that big before.

Orihime hugged him. Not tightly. But it was still a hug. Did she not hate him for all the misery he had caused her ever since she was six years old? But at that moment, he couldn't think of a rational reason for her actions, nor his. Because he unconsciously wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug.

Orihime knew he would probably yell at her for hugging him or not accept her hug. After all, he hated her. But neither of those predictions came true. He returned the hug. Not only that, when she tried to let go of him a few moments later, he didn't let go. He only held her tighter, chocolate brown eyes closed.

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_Raising the rice, raising the rice, we aimed for the memory_

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She had never been this close to anyone before, let alone the boy-no. Now a man that she loved even though she was not supposed to love him, had no reason to love him. She closed her eyes. First thing that came to her mind was a seven year old boy holding hands with a six year old girl, walking through a beautiful rose garden.

Before any incident. Before any hate.

Ichigo definitely lost the part of his brain that does reasoning. If not, why was he hugging her till now? She tried to break apart once but he only held her tighter. He didn't know why. But he couldn't think. Her smaller, soft body was crushed against the hard plains of his. How can anyone be this _soft_? Before he knew it, the hug wasn't innocent anymore. He was very aware of the body that he crushed into him. But what intoxicated him was her scent.

She smelled of something heavenly and pure, like the clean scent of lavender and something that uniquely belonged to her. Ichigo buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled the heavenly smell.

But then Orihime stiffened. She never expected Ichigo to do that. What was he doing? It confused her to no end. But she couldn't deny how good it felt to be in his arms.

Noticing her stiffened, it broke Ichigo's trance.

_What the hell am I doing_?

He abruptly let go of the girl and quickly took two steps back. Their eyes met for a second and he left before he did something foolish, leaving the confused girl standing there.

They never spoke of that moment again.

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_Do we remember the sad things that have happened before today or have we forgotten them_

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Peace didn't last for long. One morning, before either Ichigo or Orihime awakened, a very well-known trespasser was present before Ichgo's apartment door. When no one opened the door after he claimed he knocked twice, the intruder let himself in the apartment, using his own set of keys and then walked straight to Ichigo's room.

Then he gave his own son a kick in the face at six am in the morning as wakeup call.

"GOOOOOOD MOOOOOOORNINGGGG, SON!"

The owner of the Kurosaki Group and CO. was indeed a very odd man.

Having been used to this treatment for years in his childhood and early teen, the said son was awakened before the foot could make contact with his stomach and avoided the kick with a vast amount of practice.

"Old man, you have two seconds to get the fuck out of my apartment." The orange head spoke in a very calm voice, but one could see his vein popping and eye twitching, he looked just about ready to burst, silently promising a lot of pain for the old man.

But the old man didn't seem to hear it, even if he did he simply chose to ignore it and was now pulling the comforter off of his son.

"Hmm…where is Orihime-chan? I was sure she would be sleeping in this room. You have gotten started on all those grandchildren you promised, I presu-"

Two seconds passed.

The lady behind the front desk will have hell to pay.

For the next minute or so, only fake wailing could be heard throughout the apartment.

"I didn't promise anything and I didn't tell you about this because I knew you would pull this! Now get OUT!" The angry son and fake-wailing-father fought in their usual mannerism to the front door. The son ready to throw the father out and go back to his peaceful slumber.

But the damage was done.

Orihime woke up from all this commotion and was now looking at the two odd Kurosakis.

She instantly recognized the man even with sleep-filled eyes. But then her eyes widened as realization sunk in, her heart beating fanatically.

'Oh no! What had Kurosaki-sama thought when he found out that I was living with Kurosaki-kun under the same roof? Had he thought I was a bad girl? Oh no! How will I explain this to him? Kami-sama! Please help me!'

Both Ichigo and Isshin seemed to understand what was going on in the poor girl's mind and stopped fighting.

"ORIHIME-CHAN~"

He started to run toward Orihime with his arms extended, probably was aiming to give her a hug if he was not stopped by Ichigo's punch.

"K-Kurosaki-sama!" The girl quickly went over to the fallen body of the older man to make sure he was alright.

"He is fine, Orihime. That's what he gets for waking us up so early in the damn morning." The orange head grumbled, shoving a hand through his unruly hair.

"ANGEL, I SAY! ANGEL FROM THE HEAVENS! I HAVE BEEN SAVED!" The fallen Kurosaki jolted up, wailing at joy.

A vein was about to burst in his hot-tempered son's temple.

"Old man, if you don't want any more injuries, get to the point or get the fuck out." He hissed venomously.

"I know, son. I know you are just trying to get more alone time-" He wasn't able to progress any further.

And now he was sporting a large bruise on his face. He still grinned like a madman and that's how Ichigo's officially-the-most-annoying-morning started.

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_Even in this tiny hand, there could someday be strength surpassing our own_

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An hour later,

"Old man, now you know everything. So get out. Now. You have office in an hour." Ichigo was literally pulling his father to the apartment door. Ichigo was honest about the whole thing except for some details his father didn't need to know about like how Orihime seemed to repeatedly get in trouble with perverts. At this point, Ichigo was just tired of dealing with his old man and he only came for an hour.

But this was one of the most memorable mornings of Orihime's life.

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_From the day I cried beneath the ripe grapes, I started to walk_

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"Oi! Orihime, are you ready yet?" Ichigo stood in front of her room, with his school uniform on, his face twisted into a scowl, looking more pissed off than usual. Now, one might wonder why he was wearing a school uniform during his summer vacation and the answer to that question would explain the pissed off scowl.

Couple days earlier-

"_Kurosaki-kun, I-I have to go to school this Wednesday. A-Ano~ I was wondering if that was ok…um…" Orihime spoke quietly to her now-employer-used-to-be-best-friend, clutching an envelope addressed to her from her school._

"_What? Why do you have to go to school during summer?" Ichigo was surprised. _

"_Well, we are going to be seniors next year and that's why we have to do extra stuff during the school year. So Sensei just wanted to plan early." Orihime explained, rephrasing the letter._

"_Huh. Always knew she was mental." Ichigo had enough chalk thrown at him to confirm that. "Well, you can go. Oh, right. I will drive you there and then pick you up when you are done." He said._

"_A-Ano, you also have the same envelope addressed to you…" Orihime said hesitantly._

_She wasn't surprised when she heard some very colorful words directed at Ochi-Sensei. _

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_Even if my hand is small, even if we're separated, we'll walk this road_

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"I am almost ready, Kurosaki-kun! Just a minute." Orihime hopped out of her room, trying to pull one of her socks up.

Ichigo stared at the weird girl. She was just odd.

But then it happened.

Ichigo was awarded with an excellent view of her underwear. He swiftly looked away. But the image was burned in his memory. He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face.

'Fuck! This isn't the first time I saw a girl's panty. Hell, I didn't even have that reaction the first time. Shit.' He tried to find a reason.

'But that girl wasn't her.' His mind was now going against him.

"Kurosaki-kun!" When he came back to the physical world after trying to imagine, at the same time trying to ignore the image of the auburn haired in her red panty with lace at the edges, he found the said girl waving her hands vigorously in front of his face.

"What?" He hoped his voice sounded normal.

"G-Gomen. You were spacing out. I am done." She looked nervous again under the scrutiny of his gaze.

"Let's go." He didn't know how else to respond.

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_And on the day that will someday come, we'll store away our best memories_

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Dun dun dun~ You have once again made it to the end! Congratz for being able to put up with my horrible English, grammar, the usual.

Oh! I am not sick anymore! Thank you all for being so caring!

Honestly, you guys are just too awesome! Always supporting this lame-o here with such nice comments! You guys are such nice people!

Thanks everyone who reviewed, followed and favored this story! You guys are amazing! I love you!

Special thanks to~

**Diana Cruz, Soaring Demoness, BittersweetSonata, Magdalena88, cherry mist, littlemadcat, naleah, KHLostEmpress, Misha, Jubee-chan, ethereal, Anonymous **and** Sele de la Luna. **(I sincerely apologize if I left anyone out. Gomennasai~)

*****Hugs for 10 minutes each while blabbering about how nice all of you are and how much I love you guys!*

Thanks again everyone! I hope I will be able to post the next chapter soon.

*Boinks on the head with a rolled piece of paper* 'Stop being lazy, you lazy person!'

Yup. I am truly a lame person. Can't even come up with a proper insult for myself. Sigh.

Anyways, I think I annoyed you guys enough.

So bye for now!

Good Night...wait no. It's actually good morning.

-RainingLight~


	8. Chapter 8

Ei What up everybody, it's woman RainingLight here! HAHAHAHA...trying to be Superwoman! Lol...you guys probably don't even know what I am talking about. Anyways, ignoring my crazy self, I AM BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER! I hope you guys like it! Let me know in your reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach nor do I own Clannad opening theme.

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_I was having a transparent dream…_

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For the last week or so, Orihime never left the apartment building. She was too busy exploring Ichgio's apartment and getting used to the place. But now in broad daylight, she could see the whole apartment. It really was a magnificent building. She again, saw the huge portrait of Kurosaki Masaki in the lobby.

The beauty of such luxurious place puzzled her. But what puzzled her most was Ichigo's dark scowl and angry gaze toward the lady behind the front desk.

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_It was a tender eternity…_

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"HIME! I get to see my princess during the summer break! Isn't this great?" As soon as Orihime reached the classroom, Orihime was tightly hugged by her red-haired friend.

Trying to wiggle out of her reach before her hands starts to wander, Orihime didn't notice Ichigo right behind her, neither did Chizuru.

Ichigo thought he would get used to this by now. But apparently not. During all these years of high school and junior high he had seen how Honsho acted toward the clumsy, auburn-haired girl. To say, it annoyed him would be an understatement. Even though he was supposed to hate her, Honsho was able to piss him off every morning with her harassment. But those days, Tatsuki was always there to stop that crazy girl. But today Tatsuki wasn't there and Today, Ichigo was already pissed.

He saw the girl's hand starting to wander and then he rudely broke Orihime out of her red-head's grasp.

Before any of them could say anything, a black haired girl walked up to Orihime and asked, quite loudly,

"Orihime-chan, I saw you coming out of Kurosaki-kun's car." The girl said accusingly.

"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Hime, why were you in his car?" If that moment was animated, Chizuru would have teeth sharper than sharks and flames coming out of her eyes. She was pointing an accusing finger at Ichigo.

Upon noticing the disturbance, everyone looked at them. The popular girls who would fawn over Ichigo, also wanted to know the reason, while looking at Orihime with angry glare.

Orihime didn't know how to answer that simple question. What would she say? Would her classmate believe her if she said she was his maid? But she was saved for Ichigo answered before she could formulate one.

"She lives with me."

Again, if this was animated, everyone's jaw would drop to the floor and Orihime stood there with red face. She did not expect him to say that of all things.

"YOU, VILE CREATER! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE MY HIME!?" Ichigo knew what he was bringing upon himself and didn't expect Honsho to act any differently.

"But Ichigo-kun, you never brought me to your apartment~" some nameless girl whined in a supposed-to-be-cute voice.

Before Ichigo could bite back with appropriate replies, Ochi-Sensei entered.

"Shut up everyone and take your seat. What Kurosaki does and who he lives with does not concern you." Orihime's face turned darker shade of red and Ichigo merely scowled. "Anyways, we will have a new student in our class next year. He wanted to come and see our wonderful class before school starts. Come in."

Being completely uninterested and annoyed, Ichigo put his head down, basically counting seconds when they can leave.

A tall, lean figure walked in. The person had black hair, glasses and a very professional look.

The new student pushed his glass up and introduced himself.

"I am Ishida Uryu and the class president the upcoming year."

Both Ichigo and Orihime's eyes snapped up to the newcomer. Then Orihime looked very happy and Ichigo groaned before putting his head down again. The class made some noise of amazement and clapped.

'What the hell is this prick doing here?' Ichigo sighed.

"Alright. Ishida, go sit on that empty seat next to Inoue. Inoue, raise your hand." Ochi-sensei gave orders before getting some papers out of her large bag.

"Inoue-san." The new student looked at the girl before walking toward his seat.

"Hai! It is you, Ishida-kun!" The girl said with a smile.

"I thought you went to a different school." The 'prick' took his seat and Ichigo's scowl deepened.

"Hehe. Ishida-kun! This school also has a knitting club!" Orihime informed him excitedly.

"I will join." The 'prick' gave her a small smile and Ichigo's day got worse.

Ichigo didn't know how Ishida and Orihime knew each other. And not knowing this useless piece of information annoyed him to no end.

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_The faint, wind like voice…_

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Ichigo had no idea what Ochi-Sensei talked about the whole class. He was too busy glaring at the 'prick' and constantly looking at the auburn haired, naive girl. Only time he looked away from her was when Ochi-Sensei sent another chalk flying at him, which he caught effortlessly, having had years of practice in that field. The class came to an end and he couldn't be more glad.

"Orihime, let's go." He started to walk away.

"Hai! But before that, Kurosaki-kun, you already know this is Ishida-kun and Ishida-kun, this is Kurosaki-kun. I-I…um…" Orihime's cheeks turned red again at the thought of what Ichigo said earlier.

"Yes, I heard. You live with him." That caused Orihime's blush to darken. "Inoue-san, we already know each other or did your small brain forget, Kurosaki?" Ishida said flatly.

"Asshole! Still a prick, I see." Ichigo retorted back. Orihime saw his eyes lacking the usual anger in them.

"Eh?" That's all Orihime could say in confusion.

"Should the heir to the famous Kurosaki Group and Co be really speaking in such manner?" The smart guy replied while pushing his glasses back up.

"Tell me, what are you doing here? Got kicked out of Seika?" The orange-head asked, knowing full well that was not the case.

"I am not a brute like you, Kurosaki." Ishida answered coolly.

"Oh! You guys are friends!" Orihime exclaimed excitedly and that made both buys to look at her as if she was absurd.

"Inoue-san, of course I am not friends with this arrogant idiot." The class president simply denied.

"As if I would be friends with a smart-ass like him. Moron." The Kurosaki heir huffed. "Let's go." He said before pulling Orihime behind him.

"See you, Ishida-kun!" The girl waved at the boy with night color hair as she was dragged by her 'master'.

'Yup! They are definitely good friends.' For some reason, this made Orihime very happy.

:

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_Is calling me from the high sky…_

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Ichigo got in his car and waited for Orihime to get in and fasten her seatbelt before driving. To Orihime's surprise, he hasn't say a single word since they left the school building. Even though he wasn't the most talkative company when they drove to school, he wasn't entirely quiet either. And the difference between that Ichigo and this one bothered Orihime.

"A-Ano…Kurosaki-kun, i-is something wrong?" She asked tentatively. She didn't know why he was angry. But she knew he was angry.

"No." He answered without taking his eyes off the road.

One second…

Five seconds…

Ten seconds…

_Fuck it_. "How do you know him?" Truth to be told, Ichigo was itching to ask this question ever since he learned that Orihime knew that 'prick.' But he simply told himself it didn't concern him and it doesn't matter. But he just needed to know. He just hoped he didn't sound too demanding for an answer.

"Oh. Back in Junior High, our school and Ishida-kun's school had a knitting program together. We were supposed to come up with the costumes for the Hanabi festival for Karakura that year. I was Ishida-kun's partner that time. But I haven't seen him ever since we entered High School."

'That sounds professional enough.' Ichigo thought. Getting angry at himself this time for feeing relief at her answer.

"A-Ano~ how do _you_ know him?" Orihime asked softly.

"His father is our family doctor." That's all he said as if it answered the question.

Then he drove right past the entrance to his apartment building.

"Oro~ Kurosaki-kun? Did you forget where your apartment is? We just drove past it! Maybe the little blue men got your brain!" Orihime gasped at her self-proclaimed reason behind Ichigo's action.

This time Ichigo did laugh out loud. He couldn't stop himself nor did he want to. Orihime's eyes snapped to the boy and her eyes widened at the sight. She hadn't seen Ichigo laugh like this ever since that incident. It was a beautiful sight.

"Haha…Orihime, you still believe in little blue men and little green men?" The boy asked in between his laughter.

"H-Hai! They make me trip all the time!" The girl confidently stated.

Ichigo just laughed for a little longer.

"Well, I can assure you. This time it wasn't the little blue men. I am driving past my apartment at my own free will." Ichigo gave her one of his rare smiles.

"Um…then where are we going?" The confused gray-eyed beauty questioned.

"You'll see." That's all he said before continuing with the driving.

:

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_If I take off while like this…_

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Ten more minutes and Orihime could see the Karakura river. One of her most favorite places in the area. After parking his car in the parking lot, Ichigo mentioned Orihime to follow him.

Orihime on the other hand, was looking at the boy rather strangely. What were they doing here? Her 'master' was being too kind and that worried her.

"Orihime, don't look so surprised." Ichigo looked at her, his brown eyes filled with amusement.

"A-Arigato." Orihime blushed bright red under his scrutinizing gaze.

Whatever Ichigo was going to say in reply, wasn't voiced because a little dragonfly landed on his hand. As if out of reflex, Orihime tried to catch it but the little red dragonfly flew away with lighting speed and her hand fell on his. It was like an electric shock. Whatever it was, the feeling, it touched every vein of their body, leaving them both confused. Ichigo stared at their hands with an unreadable expression and Orihime on the other hand, was mortified.

As soon as she realized what just happened, she snatched her hand away as if she caught fire. Without thinking, she launched into a babbling apology.

"I-I…g-gomen…a-a-ano-d-dragonfly…" That was all she was able to say before Ichigo cut her off.

"Still chasing after dragonflies? And they still like me more." Ichigo was enjoying this for he brought up the past unintentionally and that surprised her more, sending her back to the river where the tides were calm and gentle, of memories.

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_I can go anywhere…_

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_A little six year old girl had been running for the past two hours in the green river bank and there wasn't a trace of tiredness in her expression. Every now and then she stole a glance at her slightly older orange-haired friend and instantly looked away when she saw him grinning from ear to ear, sitting with enough dragonflies to make a dragonfly-tornedo._

_Orihime didn't understand why she couldn't catch any of them. She didn't want to catch one at first but they all ran away from her when she came to them and always ran to Ichigo who was always with her._

"_Oi! Orihime, I think you ran around enough. Come here. I will let you borrow some of mine. What do you say, dragonflies? Won't you go to Orihime?" He asked gleefully. The dragonflies only made their buzzing noise. _

_Hearing this made the girl's eyes water. _

'_Otou-san was right. Nothing good comes toward me. I must be cursed.' _

_It might sound odd to hear this from a six year old girl who is nothing but the epitome of innocence. But she had lived the past six years with parents who had done nothing but plague her innocent, white heart with nothing but insecurities. _

_It might not be odd after all._

"_Ichigo! That's not nice. You made her upset." A beautiful lady with curly bright hair softly scolded her son, knowing he didn't do that intentionally._

"_MOM!"_

"_Masaki-san!" _

_The boy forgetting his hoard of dragonflies and the girl forgetting her depressing thoughts, they both ran to the newcomer and hugged her legs._

"_Hai hai! Time to go home. But, Ichigo. You have to apologize to Orihime-chan. Gentlemen don't hurt a beautiful lady's feelings." She softly reminded with a smile._

"_I-It's no problem, Masaki-chan!" Blushing red at being called 'a beautiful lady' from the woman she looked up to._

"_Gomennasai, Orihime." The boy quickly gave the little girl a hug and then got embarrassed and ran off._

"_Ne, Masaki-san, why does dragonfly come to me like they do to Ichigo-kun?" The little girl asked the older lady._

_Hearing her say that, the older lady bent down on her knees, so she could be in eye level with the girl. She said,_

"_Orihime-chan, maybe the dragonflies think you are one of them. Dragonflies are symbols of the sense of self that comes with maturity and going past self-created illusions. Orihime-chan, you will understand what I mean when you get older, ne?" _

"_H-Hai!" The little girl nodded enthusiastically._

"_Ne Orihime-chan, can you promise to be Ichigo's dragonfly when he needs one?" The older woman asked again, knowing very well her question didn't make sense to the girl._

"_Hai?" _

_It was a beautiful afternoon._

_:_

_:_

_Surely I will unreservedly tell you…_

_:_

_:_

"You are like the dragonfly, you know?" This unexpected question brought her back to the present, distracting her from the golden memories.

"Oro? Really?" The girl questioned, a finger on her chin indicating deep thinking.

"Mhmm, you buzz around like that all the time, all colorful and pure." He mumbled the last part but the girl heard it anyway.

"A-Arigato." She blushed at the compliment. Over the past couple days of her stay with the hot-tempered Kurosaki, she sometimes wondered if this was the same person who insulted her every step in junior high and senior high.

"L-Let's get something to eat." He said, walking away with red cheeks so she doesn't see them.

He really was pathetic.

:

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_The words, thoughts, everything…_

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* * *

So...how was that? I honestly thought many of the parts were emotional and you all know how I feel about my emotional scenes. A DISASTER, I SAY! A DISASTER!

LOL...please excuse the bad grammar and bad English and the crazy me and the usual...

Now!

Thank you everyone who reviewed, favored and followed this story! I love you guys!

For the past 2 chapters, I have been slacking off and sick so I couldn't answer the reviews individually. Now I am feeling a little less lazy (sigh...me and my English...) and thought I should! You guys **ARE** amazing, after all.

So! Special thanks to-

**Ermilus, Jubee-chan, Anonymous, Misha, Soaring Demoness, Sale de la Luna, Magdalena88, KHLostEmpress, naleah, Xtremefairy, ethereal,** and **Shree! **

Thanks a ton guys!

**Ermilus**: Hahahaha...you don't have to wait long! But I am not telling you anything yet! MUAHAHAHA...Lol. Thanks for the review!

**Jubee-chan**: Yup! Totally. Can't even go to sleep at night. I am glad I am not the only one!

**Anonymous**: Hehehe...who doesn't like a perverted Ichi?! (I am not the only one, right?) I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. Thank you for the review. I hope you liked this one.

**Misha**: Thank you!

**Soaring Demoness**: I am glad! And I also love interactions between Ichigo and Isshin! I probably am not able to write it well but I still love it! And perverted Ichi is our dream! *joins the weirdo twirl, since I am big weirdo!*

**Sale de la Luna**: Thanks! I am doing well now, thank you. And here is your update! I hope you liked it!

**Magdalena88**: I know right! "Ichi! You are being an idiot!" *Then remembers she is the one writing it.* Hehe...nervous laugh! *RAININGLIGHT! STOP BEING AN IDIOT!* Lol...I am a little too crazy today. Thank you for the review!

**KHLostEmpress**: Yup! Love him! I think Isshin is an amazing dad! Thank you for the review!

**naleah**: I hope you liked this chapter. I know this wasn't full blown jealousy but everything has a beginning, right?! Thank you for the review!

**Xtremefairy**: Thank you! I am so happy you are reading this! :)

**ethereal**: Lol...I hope you liked this one as well! And thank you for your awesome review!

**Shree**: Thank you!Here is the update and I hope you liked it!

I apologize from the bottom of my heart if I left anyone out. Please let me know.

Anyways, Thank you guys!

I will see you guys later!

-Raininglihgt~


	9. Chapter 9

Helloooooooooo people of this wonderful Earth or other planets (I DON'T DISCRIMINATE ALIENS!)! Ahem...I AM BACK! With a new chapter. I don't how you guys will react to this one. Let me know in a review. And I hope you guys like it. Oh! And please take a look at the authors note at the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Clannad After Story opening theme.

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_I am only looking at the spilling hourglass_

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It was about one o'clock in the morning. Unbeknownst to the two sleeping occupants of Kurosaki Ichigo's apartment, it was raining very heavily over the now quiet Karakura. It was pitch black outside and angry thunders could be heard every few seconds followed by splashes of white light.

Ichigo woke up feeling very cold. But that was to be expected. As always, he went to sleep wearing only his pajama pants and nothing on the top. (Before Orihime's arrival, he only slept in his boxers but now he wore the pajama pants in order to not make her feel uncomfortable.) Feeling thirsty, he walked outside of his bedroom to get some water and then planned to go back to sleep. But as he was coming back to his room, he knocked down a silver vase in the dark. "_Dammit. Orihime is the clumsy one_." And that made a loud enough racket to wake up the whole building.

But it only woke up the girl who slept next to his bedroom.

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_When I turn it upside down, look, it starts up again_

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Orihime jolted up at the sound. But as soon as she woke up, a loud thunder also crashed at the same time. Not knowing it was raining this hard, not knowing it was thundering outside, not having any preparations, Orihime screamed. She instantly grabbed the blanket and fled under the bed.

This ritual was not new to her.

Ichigo heard Orihime screamed and instantly ran toward her room, even before cursing himself for waking the girl up. When he arrived there, without bothering to knock, he walked into the room. After turning the lights on, he was very surprised to find no trace of the girl on the bed.

"Orihime? Oi. Where are you?" He called out.

Hearing his voice, Orihime made some kind of whimpering noise.

Ichigo's eyes widened. He bent down and found the girl under the bed, her eyes tightly closed, cheeks soaked with diamond tears and blanket clutched tightly in her hands.

"Orihime?" He extended his hand toward her and she instantly gripped onto it as if her life depended on it. "What are you doing down here?" He said softly. This was very new to him.

"T-T-thunder." That's all Ichigo was able to hear because another thundered crashed and made Orihime scream again.

"You are scared of thunder?" Ichigo asked as he thought of what to do in this situation.

"T-There was a t-thunderstorm on the night of Onii-chan's death." She whispered.

This time Ichigo stopped breathing, brown eyes still, hand gripping the girl's hands back, he felt an ever familiar wave of guilt wash over him.

"Orihime, come out from there. It's alright. It won't hurt you, I promise." His voice thick with emotion.

Hearing his voice, the girl slowly crawled back from under the bed and as soon as she got out, she was tightly hugged by the boy in front of her. Feeling the warmth of his bare skin, she gripped onto him tightly, letting her tears fall freely.

"Shh…it's okay. I promise." He whispered, trying to compose her as he ran his fingers through her soft and silky hair.

After a long moment of standing, Orihime seemed to feel better and noticing this, Ichigo walked the girl backward toward her bed, still hugging her tightly. He gently laid her down and wrapped the blanket around her before turning around to leave. But then stopped dead on his track.

Orihime held on to his hand tightly. Her eyes turning watery again, she whispered,

"Please don't go."

Looks like Ichigo was in for a lot of surprises this night. His breath quickened at her invitation. The second he looked at her eyes, he knew he lost. He couldn't refuse her anything when she looked like _that_. So trusting and breathtakingly beautiful. Images of when she was only six flashed by in his mind's eyes one by one. Not knowing if he could trust himself with her, he slowly got under the blanket and hugged her as they both laid there, closer than they had been before, sharing the warmth their bodies provided.

In no time, Orihime fell asleep, snuggling closer to Ichigo. Ichigo one other hand, stayed awake unable to bring himself to go to sleep when such a beautiful sight was right in front of him. After making sure Orihime was in deep sleep, Ichigo softly kissed her plump lips before swiftly pulling himself away. He honestly did not trust himself with her.

Sigh. 'How much more do you want me to endure?'

After reminding himself who she was, he hugged her and tried to keep his mind clear.

Only he knew how hard that had been, how much will power it took.

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_I wonder if I'll be able to someday enter_

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Orihime woke up feeling a little groggy and snuggled close to the warmth she thought her blanket was providing for her. When she was a little more conscious, she noticed something heavy laced around her waist. Unconsciously, she turned her head to right and almost screamed before forcing herself to calm down. There laid Ichigo on his stomach, his head on her hair over her shoulder. Half of his body was on top of her and one of his arms was snaked around her waist. Holding her tightly in place. One of his legs was above her own legs, pinning her down effortlessly.

Orihime laid there, underneath him silently, eyes very wide, almost inhuman. What was the man of her affection doing here? With her, on her bed (well, technically his), holding her like _this_? Then she remembered the ordeals from last night. How embarrassing! And she caused him to lose his own sleep on her behalf as well. She even begged him to _stay_! Her thoughts stilled when he nuzzled her neck in a very intimate way and this time Orihime couldn't stop herself from shivering even after all the warmth the boy provided. She could feel his rock hard muscles on top of her. Over the course of the night, the blanket slipped downward and Orihime had a clear view of Ichigo's strong back.

Without knowing what she was doing, she touched the muscles there and it _moved _under her hand. She instantly took her hand back. Having no experience with any men's body before she had no idea what was going on or what to expect. She made to touch it again but then she realized what she was doing.

'Bad _bad_ Orihime! Oh no! What would Kurosaki-kun think when he wakes up? I have to get away somehow.' She softly touched his shoulder and tried to get herself from under the strong body above her. But Ichigo wouldn't budge. When she tried once more and this time feeling her movement, Ichigo stirred. At this, Orihime stiffened like a log.

This time, Ichigo sleepily lifted his head up from her hair and saw large ash eyes staring at him, body stiff like a log. Every trace of sleep fled him. That was probably the only time he let so many emotions flash across his eyes. He went from neutral, to confused, to understanding, to fascination and then mortification laced with something _carnal_. As if electrified, he jumped up, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. With bright red cheeks, he stared at the girl whose whole face was the darkest shade of red and it spread on her long creamy neck before disappearing in forbidden territory.

Before he could make the mistake of looking there, he quickly left the room and straight to the bathroom before splashing his face with ice cold water. He groaned as he looked at himself. The loose pajama pant that he was wearing last night transformed into a very tight, restricting piece of clothing.

He really hated taking cold showers.

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_The advancing time that only ticked away_

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"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. _Shit._" That was not the only colorful word that came out of his mouth in the duration of his _long_ shower. _With ice-cold water_.

"_What the fuck was I thinking_? I should've just came back to my room when she fell asleep. Why the hell did I stay? I was trying to avoid this" he angrily looked down. "so much last night. And it happened anyway."

Ichigo ran his hand through his bright orange hair in frustration. Normally, he would not care about his little problem, especially if he was in the company of a girl. Those nameless girls. But that's just it. Orihime was not a nameless girl. She wasn't like _that._ She was too innocent, too pure. And it was like a sin to think this way about her and he knew it. But it didn't help his problem. Her innocence just added fuel to the fire of his temptations.

'At least she didn't notice _this_.' Ichigo tried to give himself a sense of comfort.

'Maybe she did. She _was_ very stiff when you woke up.' His own mind retorted back.

"_Fuck_." Ichigo cursed out loud as he banged his head on the shower wall.

:

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_Midway on the slope that only you passed through_

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Orihime was making breakfast. Actually, she was running a disastrous storm throughout the kitchen would be the truth. With a face that was redder than any shade of red humanly possible, she was making steamed rice without the rice and green tea with cold water.

'Mou~ did Kurosaki-kun find out that I t-t-touched his b-back? Bad Orihime. Bad. Bad. Bad. Oh Kami-sama, Kurosaki-kun must be very angry and that's why he looked like that.' She was mentally hitting herself but it did not help to lift her embarrassment.

Her 'master' had been in the bathroom for a long time and she was worried that he might catch a cold.

'Mhhmm…Could he be embarrassed?' She questioned herself before dismissing that thought as she knocked herself with a leek. Her 'master' and embarrassed? That didn't go together.

Her thoughts were cut short when she saw him walking out of the bathroom in only a towel. That was not something they need in that situation. The morning was already embarrassing enough. After staring at each other for a couple moments, making Ichigo blush again, Orihime spun around so fast that Ichigo was actually worried about her for a second, forgetting his own embarrassment. Then he went to his room to get dressed without any other word.

They pretended like that morning never happened but that didn't mean they forgot about it.

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_Many warm spots of sunshine appeared_

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After making sure she had the permission to go explore, Orihime had set of on her journey around the 'Rich Karakura' she was not familiar with. But not forgetting her exchange with her 'master' for even a second.

"A-Ano~, i-is it okay if I…um…I…" The nervous girl stumbled over her words in front of her employer as he stared right at her eyes, making her feel rather hot in the heavily air conditioned room.

"You what?" He said after a long moment of pause.

"I-If I could g-go…a-ano…" The girl was nervous because she didn't know how her request would be perceived by the male in front of her.

Sigh. "Orihime, listen. I know you have perfectly good reasons to be scared of me and I am not saying they are unjustified. I have told you this ever since we were kids. If you look scared people will take advantage of you." Orihime honestly could not believe her ears. Was this really Ichigo?

"Hai. I was wondering if I could go explore this part of Karakura…" she said with some confidence this time. Really, the Kurosaki heir was like magic to her. One little push from him and she was able to defeat her nervousness.

"Oi! You are making it sound like I kept you locked up in here. You don't have to ask. Wait, one minute." He said without pausing and then went to his room.

After five minutes of shuffling and searching, Ichigo finally came out with another set of the apartment key and a cellphone.

"Here you go." He handed the key to her and then the cellphone.

"Eh? Wha-" The girl didn't know why she was given a cellphone of all things.

"I am sure you will get lost around here. You used to get lost in our garden when we were little and this is a town." He chuckled. "You know how to use one of these, right?"

When he didn't hear her answer, he went on explaining. But Orihime wasn't listening. She looked at his face. His eyes were focused, showing that he was concentrating on whatever he was doing.

Was she dreaming? Was this real?

She didn't have much time to think about that because-

"OI! Are you listening?! You won't know how to call me!"

"H-Hai!"

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_Here by myself, I am_ _reminiscing_

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Little did Orihime know that this little trip will bring chaos in her life once again.

* * *

You made it!

Now my usual, please excuse the bad English, bad grammar and thousands of other problems I have.

Okay. I have to say, writing this chapter was...a new experiencing. I literally had to do research to write this chapter. And I read some pretty embarrassing articles and then came up with Ichigo's little problem. I was blushing like a mad woman the whole time. Oh god! And do back muscle really move when someone touches it? I have no clue. I just made that up. Sigh...

Anyways,

Thank you everyone who reviewed this story, followed and favorited? (It's not a word?) it.

Special thanks to~

**Magdalena88**: HAHAHA...I am not giving any hints for the future chapter! And I am glad you liked it. I hope you liked this one too.

**eragonfan117**: First of all, I LOVE ERAGON TOO! And thank you for the lovely reviews!You put a big smile on my face! Thank you! :)

**Sele de la Luna:** Hi! And I actually got the idea of "Oro" from Kenshin. I really love him! I thought it would suit Orihime! Thank you so much for the review! And here is your update! I hope you liked it.

**Ermilus**: Was he man enough this chapter? How was the Ichi in this chapter? I hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you for your constant support!

**littlemadcat**: Aww... it's all right! I am just glad you are reading this! No need to feel such way! You are one of my most valuable reader! Hahaha...I am glad you like my story that much. And don't worry. When my favorite stories are updated, I do mini celebrations in my room. My family gave up on my case long ago. Your review was pretty long and I loved it! I can totally understand it! Thank you sooooooo much for such lovely review!

**KHLostEmpress**: Hahaha...that's Ichi for you! And thank you! I hope you liked this one too!

**MommyNexxus:** Hmm... Hi there! I really hope you are reading this. First of all, thank you very much for your review. And I am very surprised to be honest. Why did you only read the first chapter then reviewed when 7 more chapters were available? And thank you for letting me know about how Ichigo is not rich, shy around girls etc. But to tell you the truth, I already knew that. I read the manga and still do. Although, I may not be a manga specialist, however I do know some things about Ichigo. But please know that I only borrowed the characters not the plot from Bleach. This plot is my own and I think as a writer (a terrible one at that) I do have the authority to change it however may I like it. There is a reason Ichigo is so out of character. The kind of guilt he feels in this story is far different from that of Bleach. Anyways, I am glad you find this interesting! And I agree to the last of your review! Ichigo and Orihime are really truelly meant to be!Thank you again for your review!

**Soaring Demoness:** HAHAHAHA~ I am glad you liked it! And I love when Ichigo is possessive over Orihime! It's just awesome! I hope you liked this one too! And as I said before, I am a very weird person and am on weird mood all the time. I think we are very alike, at least in being weirdo!

**Misha**: I am glad! I also love when Ichigo gets jealous! Thank you for the review!

**Jubee-chan**: Hahaha...after I read your review, I did the same! When I was writing that part, I have this mental image! Thank you for your lovely review!

**Mr. E:** LOL...I understand that Ichigo is very out of character. But that is for a reason. I hope you still like this. And don't worry! Your review made sense! Thank you.

**Shree**: Thank you. I hope you liked this one!

**Wings through Skies**: Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed this. And RETARDED SEAL?! I literally fell out of my bed, laughing when I read that. For some reason that was just too funny and I couldn't stop laughing. And I don't know if he will make her say it or not. I am good at writing hot and smutty scene. Actually, i am not good at writing any scene. Sigh. Lol... anyways, I hope you liked this!

Thank you guys so much! I love you all! I apologize if I left anyone out. Gomen!

I will stop my rambling now! I will see you guys later!

RainingLight~


	10. Chapter 10

Hola Amigos! Tis' I the Great (haha...not even for a second...) RainingLight. I have come back to entertain you (I hope) with a new chapter of "All the Right Reasons". Anyways, I am really sorry guys. For some reason, I was having a writers block. Those things are dangerous! I hope you guys like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Angel Beats.

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_I opened my eyes again,_

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To say that Orihime was astounded by the beauty of the "Rich Karakura" would be an understatement. She expected to be surprised but not to the level she actually was. Contrary to the Karakura she was used to, this one was almost unrecognizable by her. Not a speck of dust anywhere! Expensive cars flew past her in fluid motion. There were pedestrians but everyone looked well educated and elegance seemed to spread from them.

Orihime looked horribly out of place. No. Not looked. She felt horrible out of place.

After randomly wandering around for about an hour, she decided to head back. She was almost certain that she could find her way back to the apartment.

But luck was not on her side once again, not surprisingly.

During her exploration, an accident had taken place and the road she had to take to get to the apartment had been blocked. They even blocked the sidewalks. Orihime saw shreds of glass everywhere before noticing the distorted white Honda Civic. Within a minute, bunch of ambulances came and carried an unconscious man away.

'I hope he is alright. But how do I get back to the apartment?'

Orihime took another road and started to walk. She was reluctant to call Ichigo because she was he would tease her about this.

After walking for another twenty minutes, Orihime decided to call Ichigo because she couldn't find a way to the apartment or the train station. She realized she was in big trouble only after taking the cell phone out. She wasn't paying attention when he explained how it worked! She couldn't even open the lock.

'Orihime! You baka!' After mentally hitting herself with a rolled piece of paper, Orihime decided to enter the public park that was right in front of her so she could think clearly and find a solution to her problem.

Orihime sat on one of the swings as she tried to unlock the phone again and again. It will be evening soon and she needed to go back before night falls. She didn't feel comfortable staying out at night by herself. She by now knew that it was extremely dangerous.

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_To a sleepy morning_

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"Miss?" Upon hearing someone she looked up from the clocked cell phone screen.

"Hai?"

"Do you need help?" Orihime saw a short black haired boy standing in front of her, a cell phone in his hand.

"A-Ano~ I…um…" Orihime felt extremely embarrassed and could not explain that she couldn't open the lock of the cell phone. And based on what Ichigo told her, cell phone is as common as breathing to most people and she didn't even know how to unlock one!

"Inoue-san, I can help you open the lock." The stranger stated as if he read her mind.

"Oro! Stranger-san, are you a mind reader? You even know my name!" Orihime excitedly asked, forgetting about her problem for a second.

"Haha…actually I know you. I am Mizuiro Kojima. We go to the same school. I am Ichigo's friend." That had caught her attention.

"EH! But I never saw you before."

"Yes. And that might be because I am in class B. I have seen you plenty of times." Mizuiro answered as he clicked away in his cell phone. "I will help you open the lock."

Orihime handed the phone to the boy and he unlocked it in about two seconds.

"Here you go." He handed the phone back to her.

"A-Arigato." Orihime thanked him, still feeling embarrassed for not knowing something so simple.

With Muzuiro's assistance, Orihime found Ichigo's number and called him. This time feeling a little nervous because she never talked to Ichigo with a cell phone before.

"_Moshi Moshi_." Came his rough voice.

"K-Kurosaki-kun, it's me." She softly spoke.

"_Orihime, did you get lost_?" He asked that before anything else, making Orihime blush bright red.

"H-How mean! There was an accident and-"

"_Accident? Are you okay? Where are you? Is everything alright? Why didn't you call me sooner_?" Ichigo fired away questions without a pause for Orihime to clear the misunderstanding.

"No no! Kurosaki-kun, I am fine! The accident blocked the Sakura Street and that's why I couldn't take that street to walk back and I don't know where the train station is!" Orihime was finally able to answer.

Orihime thought she heard a faint "_Thanks Kami_" but didn't have the time to speculate on it because Ichigo started talking again.

"_Where are you right now_?" He asked.

"Eh…Oh. I am in the Karakura park. On the swings!" She could almost see Ichigo shaking his head.

"_Alright. Stay right there. I will be there in ten minutes. Don't talk to strangers. And call me right away if anything happens._" Came strict orders.

"Ano…I am not by myself. Your friend is with me."

"_My friend? Who? Ishida? That prick isn't my friend!_" the orange haired teen grumbled.

"Nope! It's Kojima-san. He helped me unlocked the phone." Orihime answered hoping it will give her employer some peace of mind.

"_Mizuiro? SHIT. Orihime can you hand the phone to him? I need to talk to him._" Not understanding the reason for the curse word, Orihime handed the phone to the black haired boy who was on the swing next to her.

Unbeknownst to Orihime, Ichigo and Mizuiro were having a very heated conversation.

"_Mizuiro, you bastard. If I find you tried _anything_, I will show you hell._" Came a very dark voice of Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Jeez Ichigo. You don't need to beat me up like you did to Keigo couple months ago. You know, I only go after older women." Mizuiro laughed as he answered.

On the other hand, Orihime wondered what they were talking about.

"_Like I can trust you. Anyways, I will be there in about ten minutes. Make sure nothing happens to her_." He asked his friend, this time much more calmly.

"Ichigo, it's not night yet."

"_Of all people, you should know how many perverts lurk around in that park, Mizuiro_."

Sigh. "That guy." Mizuiro wondered out loud.

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_I tighten the tie around my neck_

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"Ano~ Kojima-san, why did Kurosaki-kun beat up Asano-san?" Orihime asked after the two boys ended their conversation.

"Oh not much reason, Inoue-san. Asano-san has a big mouth on him and one time he let that mouth run about the goddess of Karakura High and that pissed Ichigo off." The womanizer liked to play with his words.

"Eh! Our school has a goddess? Really? I never saw her…" While Orihime was thinking about the 'goddess' of her school, Mizuiro understood why Ichigo was so protective of the girl. She could be in serious trouble in this harsh world in every single step.

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_When I pass through the classroom door_

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Truth to his word, Ichigo arrived in the park in less than ten minutes. Fortunately, when Orihime called him, he was right next to the train station. He couldn't bring his car because the road was blocked so he had to resort to the train. He knew he could trust Mizuiro. The guy might be a womanizer but he wouldn't do anything to Orihime. But he was worried for other reasons. Mizuiro wasn't the fighting type. And he knew the park was extremely dangerous for Orihime especially during evening.

As he walked toward the swings, he got his proof. A couple yards away from the swings where Orihime and Mizuiro sat, a man in his late twenties was looking at them, well Orihime from behind a tree. The man had dirty blond hair but the most striking feature was his eye patch.

Seeing this pervert, Ichigo balled his fist, blood boiling. He went behind the man and grabbed his collar before yanking him back.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you are doing here?" Ichigo asked in a very dangerously low voice.

"Ahem…I was just admiring the view." And that earned him a well-deserved punch right in the face.

"Aren't you ashamed? That girl is only sixteen. You bastard. Don't taint her with your filthy gaze." That was said before another punch. Ichigo deliberately kept his voice low because he didn't want Orihime to see what he was doing. After punching him a couple more times and warning him with deadly threats, Ichigo let go of the man and saw him running away.

Trying to calm himself, he went toward his original destination.

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_I can walk with my chest puffed out proudly_

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"Oro~ Kurosaki-kun! It hasn't been ten minutes yet." The girl happily exclaimed when she saw Ichigo.

"Well, I want you to make me dinner so I had to hurry." He mumbled under his breath, not meeting her gaze. But he knew she did not believe him neither did Mizuiro.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your dinner, Ichigo." Mizuiro said with a meaningful smirk before saying good bye to Orihime.

"Thank you for keeping me company, Kojima-san." Orihime said as she waved at the shorter boy.

"Hai. Hai. I will see you in school, Inoue-san. Have fun, Ichigo." He added again.

"Moron. Thanks, Mizuiro." Ichigo said as he and Orihime made their way home.

"No problem. Although, you didn't have to punch him that much." Mizuiro added before heading toward the opposite direction.

Only after Mizuiro was out of sight did Ichigo understand what he meant.

'Shit! He saw that.' But when he glanced at Orihime, he could tell that she hadn't seen. "Figures."

"Eh? Figures what, Kurosaki-kun?" The innocent girl asked.

"N-nothing. Let's go."

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_Such a wind blows pas everyday life_

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As expected, the subway was very crowded. It was almost evening after all. As Ichigo marched right through the crowd, Orihime was having problem getting past people who were almost all taller than her. Seeing her struggles, Ichigo grabbed her tiny wrist tightly but not enough to cause her pain. This contact shot electricity right through both of their bodies. Just like the first time their hand touched in the riverbank.

Seeing Orihime looking at their joined hand with wide eyes, Ichigo quickly said,

"You'll get lost."

After much struggling, Ichigo was able to get both of them on the train. The compartment was crowded too. There was no seat left so they stood next to each other. Ichigo let go of Orihime's hand at this point. But when more people poured into the already over-populated compartment, he was forced to do what he did next.

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_I thought I heard it_

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Grabbing her wrist again, in a swift motion, Ichigo positioned Orihime in such a way so that Orihime's back hit one of the walls of the train. With large ash eyes Orihime saw Ichigo's taller form standing right in front of her, his arms right above her shoulders. Face to face. When her eyes met his, she got a silent message. 'Don't ask anything.'

With red cheeks, Orihime bowed her head down as the train began to move. They were in for a very interesting ride.

And it began when the train stopped for the next station with a jerk. Orihime's back was slammed on to the wall again and this time, Ichigo's muscular form crashed on her.

"Shit. Sorry." The orange haired boy apologized with bright red cheeks as he stayed plastered to the girl of his dreams.

He tried to move away but more people got on the compartment leaving no space for any movement.

This whole time, Ichigo didn't know if he wanted the ride to end quickly or if he wanted it to go on forever. For some bizarre reason, he felt much closer to her not only physically but also emotionally. He felt as if he could relax for couple of minutes. He knew he didn't deserve this. But he wanted to be selfish and embrace it.

He then realized.

He didn't want Orihime to hate him no matter how many times he tried to make himself think that. He knew Orihime will only stay with him for the two months because he was more than sure Tatsuki will take her to her own house when she got back. But he didn't want that.

Orihime had only stayed with him for a couple weeks. But he already got used to seeing her first thing in the morning. He tried so hard to make himself believe that it did not make him happy. But how can you lie to yourself? It brought back memories from when they were little.

It gave him an odd sense of happiness that he hadn't felt ever since he lost his mother. Ever since he told Orihime that he hated her.

Now as he stood in her embrace (kind of forced because of the situation), he didn't want to live his whole life being hated by the girl he-

'Stop right there, Ichigo. You are venturing into dangerous territory.'

Before losing himself in the deep, gray eyes again, he wondered,

Was it wrong to want happiness?

Was it wrong to want to protect?

Was it wrong to want love?

He didn't want to think about the future at that moment.

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_I even thought I felt it_

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"_Moshi Moshi. What the hell do you want, Tesla_?" an angry arrogant voice answered the phone.

"Nnoitra-sama, I believe this will interest you greatly. I found her." The said "Tesla" answered.

"_Found who?"_

"I am sending you a picture right now. I even confirmed her age. She is sixteen. She was six ten years ago. The same shade of hair as the slut you shot." Tesla said before clicking in his cell phone in order to send the prized picture.

'Who the fuck is he talking about? Some slut I shot?' He didn't have to wonder for long because his cell phone made the distinct sound of incoming message.

He understood what Tesla was talking about the moment he opened the message.

"_Tesla, there is no mistake. It's her. That bitch. She owes us money. You know what to do._" The person called Nnoitra cruelly reopened the door that hid all the pain and sadness that were yet to come in Orihime's life.

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_Now it starts to shake within my chest_

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So...how bad was it? I am not going to even complain about my bad emotional scene this time. That one is getting old. Sigh.

Anyways, please excuse my horrible grammar, English and my weirdness.

Muhahahaha...I bet you guys were trying to find out how Orihime was going to get in trouble the whole chapter! I tricked you! But she is going to be in trouble. So it wasn't really a trick. (RainingLight! You lame baka!)

Well...thank you guys who read, reviewed, followed, favorited this story. I really love you guys. The reviews were so funny, I was dying of laughter when I read them. You guys are the best!

Special thanks you~

**naleah, littlemadcat, Wings through Skies, KHLostEmpress, Ermilus, ShreeDas, Soaring Demoness, Misha, Jubee-chan, Sele de la Luna, cherry mist, zodious, Sorakaii,** and** Anonymous. **

You guys are so amazing that I will even share my chocolate with you. (Believe me, that's a big thing. I love chocolate and don't share it with anyone.)

**naleah**: Hahaha...I love tormenting Ichigo! Especially about feelings! Lol...I am evil but It's really fun!

**littlemadcat**: Oh no no. You got a real weirdo here. Aww...I was scared of thunder too. And I still get scared when the electricity goes out during a thunder storm... Anyways, thank you! And I absolutely agree. This world needs much more Ichihime!

**Wings through Skies**: Hehehe...gomennasai~ I can't stop myself from posting the chapter before it get's long. Sigh...I am glad you enjoyed it. And thank you so much for the wonderful suggestion! I will definitely try it next time. But I think I will need a lot of practice. But thank you. And...m-m-me...a l-l-lemon?! I SUCK! I don't think I can pull off something so emotional. I think lemons are much more emotional than physical. Well...that's how it should be, I think. And I suck at emotional stuff. And it makes me blush! Maybe in other fics. I need to understand it first. Thank you so much for your lovely review!

**KHLostEmpres**s: Thank you! Muhahaha...Ichigo will be down before he knows it!

**Ermilus**: I hope this chapter answered your questions! Thank you for the review!

**ShreeDas**: Thank you! And it's Hime. The ultimate trouble maker. Thank you so much for your review!

**Soaring Demoness**: I hope you loved this one too. Lol...that would be awesome if Ichigo gave her a tracking phone. But I didn't Ichigo to be even more of a weirdo than he already is. Thank you for the review!

**Misha:** Thank you very much! How was this chapter?

**Jubee-chan**: Hahaha...every fangirl's dream! A topless Ichigo! Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Sele de la Luna**: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter! We both love Ken-chan! And I am glad I make you happy! That makes me happy in return!

**cherry mist**: Hahaha...thank you. And who doesn't want Ichigo. And I agree! Ichi! You hentai! Here is our update. I hope you enjoyed it.

**zodious**: You are back! And with a loooooog review! Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed the past chapters and hopefully this one too. And I think this is a long enough review! It made me really happy! I hate typing in my phone too! No wonder I am slow text-er. I am glad you are reading my story! That itself is a huge honor! Thank you!

**Sorakaii**: Thank you! It makes me very happy!

**Anonymous**: Hehehe...I am glad you are happy. I am very happy that you liked the last chapter that much! Lol...for some reason, I didn't want Ichigo to be flustered when she was asleep and he wouldn't have to explain his actions. I hope that made sense. Muhahaha~ all of your questions will be answered! But I am not telling when! Anyways, I hope you liked this one!

Thanks everyone!Gomennasai if I left anyone out. Please let me know.

I think I will stop my babbling and force myself to go to sleep!

Please leave a review.

I will see you next time!

Ja ne~

RainingLight~


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